After more than 50 years of entertaining the Berkshires and beyond, world renowned folk singer/songwriter Arlo Guthrie has decided to no longer do stage shows or to take to the road for touring.

Guthrie explained in a lengthy Facebook post on Friday afternoon title "Gone Fishing" that he had never thought much about getting older and not doing the thing that he loved and had done most of his life… singing and playing. In the post, Guthrie said that on April 1st of 2016 he became dizzy while in the parking lot of a hotel and began to see - as he described it - as if he was looking through a kaleidoscope. According to Guthrie’s post, he later found out that he had suffered a mini stroke.

Guthrie went on to say that he continued touring over the next for years, and then he had another occurrence on Thanksgiving Day of last year. If you are a fan of Guthrie, you know the significance of that day as it relates to ‘Alice’s Restaurant Massacree’ of which the singer/songwriter is most famous. Shortly after that he suffered a stroke, according to the post.

You’ll want to read Arlo’s post HERE to get all the details:

If you are a lifelong resident of the Berkshires, seeing Arlo out and about is probably nothing out of the ordinary, but for me, when I moved here in 1987… I never thought about him as actually being here in the Berkshires. He was simply the musician that sings “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree" and the star of the movie "Alice's Restaurant" which I had watch many times growing up.

I remember the first time I actually saw Arlo out in the community. I had just moved to Pittsfield and was working at Samel’s Deli on Elm Street and Arlo came in for lunch. I’ll admit, I was a bit star-struck.

I'm glad to see he is looking forward to the next chapter in his life.

I’m happy, healthy and good to go, even if I’m not going anywhere. I’ve taken back 6-9 months that I used to spend on the road, and enjoying myself with Marti, my family and friends. In short - Gone Fishing. ~ Arlo Guthrie via Facebook post

 

Here's to you Arlo. Happy Fishing.

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