Among American cultural milestones, Woodstock 1969 looms large. Yasgur’s Farm. Jimi, Janis, Country Joe, the mudslide tribe on brown acid, etc., 400,000 bell-bottomed, rained-on miserable happy freaks. Arlo Guthrie’s hippie insouciance on the loudspeaker: “The New York State Throughway is clooosed, maaannn….” It was quite profound.
Actually, Woodstock ‘69 was held in Bethel, N.Y. (Concert organizers couldn’t get the original Woodstock, N.Y., venue.) Doesn’t matter. The town of Woodstock is an American musician mecca. Not to be confused with Stockbridge, Mass., where Arlo Guthrie wrote “Alice’s Restaurant.”
So in a rom-com called “Always Woodstock” about a singer-songwriter who retreats to her parental house in that titular town, one might hope for a smattering of profundity. Not happening.
Young, bubbly, and slightly vacuous Catherine (Allison Miller) gets fired from her despised Manhattan day job as a record company publicist and gofer.
Enlisted to “wrangle” the company’s star DJ (Brittany Snow), she literally does just that: physically hauls the ego-infested, disingenuous charity-speak blathering, refusing-to-do-her-job DJ-brat, onstage. Wrangler fired.
Next up, Catherine busts stereotypical ego-planet actor boyfriend (Jason Ritter) in the shower with his “therapist.”
With her dead dad’s words in mind—“Never sell out, but if nothing else, there’s always Woodstock”—she packs her bags, pawns a ring for a red Cherokee Chief, and heads to her inherited house in Woodstock. First thing in the door, she has an “Eek-a-mouse!” moment. Some heavyweight artist.
But eventually she gets around to making music, mentored by a local legend played by Katey Sagal of “Sons of Anarchy” fame, who also happens to be a serious musician.
Catherine also falls for the bland young local doctor (James Wolk). That’s where the bland rom-com stuff starts.
