A true national treasure of wit and wisdom, Utah Phillips leads us on another of his unforgettable journeys through the bunk houses, railroad shanties, and union halls of the American Far West. This self-styled rapscallion, rabble-rouser, and individualist -- not to mention tall-tale-spinner extraordinaire -- throws in everything from Zuni chants and anarchist anecdotes to rollicking jokes and cowboy lore as he stirs up a tasty gumbo of social history and folk music, all told with a sharp eye for the absurd and the eyewitness authority of a man who's truly been there.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1935, Utah ran away from home at the age of 15 to gain an education on the road, and has spent the past several decades telling the stories and singing the songs of a lifetime spent exploring the lesser-known corners of North America. As befits his checkered past, Utah holds a wide range of honors: he's a Grand Duke of Hoboes, as well as a recipient, along with Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance. Utah has made dozens of recordings, running the gamut from The Long Memory, his 1997 album with Rosalie Sorrels that won a NAIRD award for Best Traditional Recording, to his Grammy-nominated collaboration with rock diva Ani DiFranco, Fellow Workers (Righteous Babe). Last year, Utah released a four-disc collection, Starlight on the Rails (Daemon), which includes one CD devoted to live concert recordings primarily from his shows at the Freight.

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