The words and music of iconic labor organizer and songwriter Joe Hill come to life in Joe Hill’s Last Will, a one-man play written by famed activist Si Kahn and starring multi-Grammy nominee and folk legend John McCutcheon. “Highly recommended!” says JoAnn Mar of San Francisco’s KALW.
 
Locked in a cell in the Utah State Prison, awaiting his execution at dawn, Joe Hill has a story to tell. It’s the story of his life. It’s the story of the American labor movement in the early 20th century. It’s the story of outrageous injustice and rare courage, told with compassion, love, and memorable music.
 
Joe Hill was a Swedish immigrant who, like so many others, worked at a variety of trades, trying to make his way in his new country. He was also a musician, a writer, and a man of wit and insight, who knew how to craft songs that informed and inspired, creating a songwriting template that Woody Guthrie and the Civil Rights Movement would adopt: you take a well-known melody and write new words that bring the song to new life and change the world!
 
“John McCutcheon doesn’t just play Joe Hill,” says Tom Juravich, Professor of Labor Studies and Sociology, UMass Amherst, “he channels him. He melds his passion as a labor activist with great musical chops to create a Joe Hill who we want to follow through his loves, his disappointments, and his triumphs.”
 
John McCutcheon is a brilliant songwriter, fascinating storyteller, and a virtuoso singer, fiddler, and guitarist, with more than 30 albums to his credit, and for years he’s been immersed in Joe Hill’s life and music. “Joe Hill is the most famous labor songwriter and labor martyr in American history and most people know precious little about him,” John says. “He wrote about labor, immigration, workers' rights, love, and war.” The issues Joe wrested with have not been resolved in the hundred years since his death, and his songs remain as vital and relevant as ever. Hear them fresh in Joe Hill’s Last Will at the Freight!

Visit John McCutcheon's website

photo by Irene Young