Til I Reach the Light by Blake Guthrie and Getaway Car

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A native of Birmingham, AL, who, in the truest sense of the word troubadour, made his way to Atlanta by playing and working his way from one end of the country to the other, Guthrie decided to set up shop, as it were, right next door in Decatur, GA.

Guthrie soon began sharing the stage with the likes of Shawn Mullins, John Mayer and India Arie, who all got their start in the vaunted Atlanta acoustic scene, whose epicenter is the famed Eddies Attic nightclub in Decatur. Guthrie boldly decided that his first CD should be recorded live at the Attic, in front of an audience of strangers who had never heard him before. The resulting disc-Songs About Chicks, released in 2002-speaks for itself with its strong collection of songs and enthusiastic audience reception.

Uncomfortable being pegged as an "acoustic" artist, Guthrie formed a rock band-Getaway Car-and started playing different clubs around the South, wowing audiences with his straight-ahead, no-nonsense approach to rock 'n' roll a la the Velvet Underground, the Replacements, Son Volt and the Modern Lovers. Guthrie released his latest CD, Til I Reach the Light, in the summer of 2005 and it has already garnered rave reviews in the local press as well as national and international acclaim. It's only the beginning. The disc-Guthrie's first studio effort-was recorded with Getaway Car and is sure to delight fans of Americana rock and top-tier songwriting as this formidable talent continues to gain recognition.

Guthrie is also currently at work on a novel, which he claims bears no resemblance to his own life. It's about a wayward singer/songwriter who can't seem to find any luck with the ladies. The working title is More Pretty Girls Than One, which is also the title of an old Woody Guthrie song. The two Guthrie's are not directly related, except in spirit.

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A native of Birmingham, AL, Guthrie has lived in Atlanta since 1998, settling for the sweet Georgia breezes after an itinerant period of rambling that took him from the high Rocky Mountains of Utah to the low rocky coast of Maine and plenty of rocky places in between. From golf ball picker-upper to assembly line worker to mail room sorter to grill cook, Guthrie has worked his way from one end of the country to the other, playing gigs all along the way. The question asked of him more than any other has always been: "Are you related to Woody or Arlo?" To which Guthrie has always replied: "I dunno-people always ask me that."

Since settling in Georgia, Guthrie has played some of the best rooms in the South (the 40 Watt Club, Eddies Attic, the EARL, Red Light Café, Work/Play theater) and opened for-or shared the stage with-some of the best artists in the world (Frank Black, Peter Case, John Mayer, Shawn Mullins, India Arie). At every turn this indie folk-pop firebrand has managed to tug at the heartstrings as well as tickle the funnybone--defying all the high-falutin', pre-conceived notions of the singer/songwriter genre along the way. Guthrie's most recent project--Til I Reach the Light--comtinues to do more of the same.

To anyone remotely familiar with Guthrie's deep repertoire, ample emotional range and richly textured vocal style, it should come as no surprise that this independent song-poet has once again defied the expectations of a grateful audience.

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