U. Utah Phillips     May 15, 1935 - May 23, 2008

     I was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of a long-time and dear friend Bruce "U. Utah Phillips, The Golden Voice of the Great Southwest." Starting with his first appearance in 1973, Utah became a prominent and integral figure in the history of the Towne Crier Cafe, performing frequently well into the late 1980s when heart problems began to limit his ability to travel and to perform. Every one of Utah's concerts at the Café was memorable, and his large and faithful audience kept coming back for more. When I was director of the Great Hudson River Revival and the Bear Mountain Festival of World Music and Dance, Utah was an essential component, as both performer and master of ceremonies.

      Bruce served in the army during the Korean War, where his political consciousness was awakened. After some time spent sorting him self out, hoboing on freight trains, he worked at a hobo-homeless shelter called the Joe Hill House in Utah where his political views started to form.

      He became a voice against injustice, a voice for many who did not have a strong voice of their own, as well as a spokesman for the IWW (The Industrial Workers of the World - "Wobblies"). Bruce ran for the US Senate in 1968 on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket. Later, there was a movement to draft him to run for president with the appropriate motto "U For President!" In the early 1970s he was based in Saratoga Springs, NY, and was a member of The Wildflowers music cooperative there. As a musician, songwriter and poet, Utah wrote such classics as "Daddy What's a Train," "Goodnight Loving Trail," "Rock Salt and Nails" and "The Green and Rolling Hills of West Virginia" -- songs which have been recorded and performed by Emmy Lou Harris, Doc Watson, Joan Baez, Rosalie Sorrels, Tom Waits, Ani DiFranco, Ian Tyson, Waylon Jennings and many others. He was also one of the finest, most gifted (and often hilarious) storytellers to have visited the cafe. He was an amazing human being, an American original and grassroots patriot in the mold of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger.

      More than anything else, Bruce was a friend. I'll miss him dearly, as will many, many others. The world is now an emptier place without the warm presence of this larger than life character.

Phil Ciganer, proprietor