First it was Bob Dylan. Then it was Wilco. And now the world is joining America’s folk music royalty, the Guthrie Family, in celebrating the 100th birthday anniversary of Woody Guthrie. To mark the July 14 anniversary, Arlo Guthrie has gathered his family including children and grandchildren – for the Guthrie Family Reunion to celebrate Woody in music.

Sets include Woody Guthrie tunes such as “This Land is Your Land” and plenty of his rare songs, too. In addition, the Guthrie family is playing some of their own songs.

One member of the tour is Sarah Lee Guthrie, who is not only Arlo’s daughter and Woody’s granddaughter, but music royalty in her own right. With husband Johnny Irion, Sarah Lee Guthrie has combined her love for rock with her deep folk sensibilities to build a loyal fan following and release critically acclaimed albums including the 2011 Bright Examples.

Although Sarah Lee Guthrie has always gravitated toward rock, she and her husband and their two young daughters are active and enthusiastic members of the Guthrie Family Reunion tour. Just before heading out for the summer tour, Sarah Lee Guthrie talked about music, fans, and why Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy is the right choice to produce the duo’s next album that they plan to release in 2013.

It seems that you live in two very different musical worlds – the rock that you and Johnny play including on your last album, “Bright Examples,” and then the folk music of your family. Is it difficult to balance between those two worlds?

It just comes naturally, really. We love all kinds of music. And I love being flexible enough to play Woody Guthrie songs and get awesome feedback and then for the very next song pick up my awesome electric guitar [and play rock]. It’s the full experience for me and the audience loves it, too. With music, you don’t have to put a name on it or a genre. I never wanted to be cornered into any of those [format] titles – and I like to play kids’ songs, too. We have a very large repertoire. We can go into a library and play for 100 five year olds, then go to a rock club and play for 20 year olds and then go to theatres and play for those that like hearing music in theatres. That variety is really what keeps Johnny and me excited about music.

So many second- and third-generation musicians seem to move far away from what their parents or grandparents played. You’ve never seemed to do that.

It’s important to tip your hat to history. It got us this far so we’re ready to see where we can progress and expand it. It’s both exciting and challenging. And it’s exciting to keep things moving in all directions. That’s what we love about it and it works. Not everybody can do that, walk that line.

You must get a lot of people at your concerts that are huge fans of your dad’s music or that of your grandfather. I know, again, a lot of other kids of famous musicians find that annoying. How do you react to those fans?

Woody inspired so many people and so has dad. Those are the kind of people who love to hear our music and it just makes me feel like giving more. It’s just inspiring in a lot of ways. You can look at it and you can crumble under the expectations, or you can realize there is a gift there, There is a gem, and there is a reason I am here doing what I am doing. It’s a gift as those relationships grow. As we keep making music and see new fans and old fans, the relationship seems to be growing. The relationship and meaning of the Guthrie family grows in me, too.

Photo credit Arlo Guthrie

Do a lot of people want to hear Woody and Arlo’s songs without any kind of changes?

There are expectations. And there are people who want to hear the music a certain way. It’s a really grand thing, that they love the music, and we definitely want to keep it going. But there’s something to be said for the spirit of things and not doing it exactly like it was done before. I like thinking in terms of that and not trying to copy something or go back in time. We want to keep the spirit and move forward. That is the key to keeping it fresh for [the audiences] and for us.

You’ve always been gracious about playing the folk music that your family made famous, but you seem very enthusiastic now.

It was a very fine line for me. Maybe I wasn’t ready [to completely embrace] them before, but something has happened for me. Something very important about the idea of my life [and being a descendent of] Woody Guthrie. We enjoy walking with Woody Guthrie, having him with us. Now is the right time for us to celebrate and pay tribute to this man without whom we wouldn’t be here. And that feels really good.

I know you’re all doing some of your own music on this tour but you are also selecting an array of Woody Guthrie music. Is it all music we know?

Actually, no. We’re trying to find some very obscure tracks no one has heard, not to be so obvious.

That’s great, to give people a chance to hear more of his repertoire. That, too, sounds like something you’re very excited to do.

I am. Something shifted this year. Maybe in my dreams it came to me that I’ve got to play this songs. Let’s do it for Woody and represent him. We should! It’s a really neat feeling as the Centennial comes around and it’s a full tribute. We all feel it, all 14 of us out there. We are all excited to represent what it means. And there couldn’t be a better time in the world to do this. The world needs Woody Guthrie now so let’s do it and have fun. It feels good for both Johnny and me to stop out of our own world and do this.

Speaking of your world, I understand your new album is about halfway done. I know Jeff Tweedy and Pat Sansone of Wilco are the producers. You have a lot going on!

We do, and their schedule has been as crazy as ours but we keep pushing forward. Wilco is one of my favorite bands because they take very unique approaches. They never sound the same, every song sounds different. When Wilco and Billy Bragg came out with the whole Woody Guthrie sound, it was just kind of a revelation to me. I had grown up loving rock ‘n roll and then having Wilco and Billy Bragg do that project [the recent album “Mermaid Avenue” in honor of the Guthrie centennial], some of the more traditional came in. It was a revelation to me. Dylan brought Woody Guthrie to the last generation and Wilco is bringing it to this one. It’s come full circle and is still evolving.

What’s the process been like so far?

I love it and I love [Jeff and Pat]. Jeff is the guy who comes in and lets you know if you’re delivering the message or not. He’s really got a way of making you express yourself. This is very raw and each track is unique. When we first decided to go with Jeff, we thought ‘We are going to make a great Americana record.’ We’ve gone way beyond that. You can’t put a tag on it, which I like.

You and Johnny certainly collaborated on “Bright Examples,” but it seems your songs were very separate. I remember you talking about Johnny’s songs and him mentioning your songs. Not in a way to separate you, but just identify the different inspirations. Is it the same this time?

You know, I can count on one hand the number of times through the years Johnny and I have co-written but for this we’ve sat down and said ‘What do you think?’ We dive into each other songs. So the songs go from our basement to the loft and then out to you guys. We’ve given them a lot of songs and they are choosing them and it’s coming together.

It has to be nerve wracking in a way to have so much of the process out of your immediate control. I give you a lot of credit for putting such trust in your producers.

SLG: When you have Jeff Tweedy choosing your songs, you know they are the best so we feel very confident.