Arlo Guthrie still loves life on the road

Everything is green. Birds are jabbering loudly and coconuts are about to fall from the trees. As the misty sea fog begins to break, Arlo Guthrie is in a little cottage overlooking the big waves on the North Shore in Haleiwa, Hawaii.

“It’s just another day in paradise as the locals say,” he says during a recent interview. “The occasional person walks on the beach. I love the Polynesian girls. I’m happy and grateful for this moment.”

The legendary songwriter made a stop in Hawaii after touring in Australia for the past couple months. He is now on his way to continue his tour in the United States.

	Arlo Guthrie WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Thursday WHERE: Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco HOW MUCH: $20-$45 at www.ticketssantafe.org or 505-988-1234

Guthrie hasn’t released an album since 2009′s “Tales of’ ’69,” but that doesn’t mean he’s not working on something.

“My son Abe is going through the last three years of recorded shows as we’re trying to do video and audio for the further projects,” he explains. “We should have something soon.”

Guthrie comes from a musical family – his parents were Woody and Marjorie Mazia Guthrie and his sister is record producer Nora Guthrie. And his children and grandchildren are following in his footsteps – all 14 of them.

“We’ve toured together a few times,” he says. “It’s always way too much fun, so we’re planning to do it again as soon as we can. I love being the ringmaster and play(ing) with the family on stage.”

Though he grew up in a musical family, Guthrie says it wasn’t difficult, nor did he feel pressure growing up.

“(It wasn’t) more difficult than growing up in any family these days,” he says. “There was no pressure at all to be a performer. But I was expected to know how to play a guitar and read music. It had nothing to do with being a professional musician but more of a way to have a sense of the language of the heart, which is music.”

Guthrie has had plenty of hits over the course of his career, but his more famous songs are “Alice’s Restaurant” and “City of New Orleans.”

He admits to having to relearn “Alice” every 10 years and then tour around the world.

“Next up, in 2015 when I will once again put ‘Alice’ on the show menu,” he says. ” ‘City of New Orleans’ was written by my dear friend Steve Goodman. I’m pretty sure he’d be surprised and thrilled that for many people it has become part of the soundtrack to their lives.”

Guthrie is one of the few musicians who enjoys his life on the road.

“My home is the road, and it’s been that way since I left home at 18,” he says. “I have places I can go to for a little break and I love pretending to be normal even if it’s for just a few days at a time. Lately I’ve been taking more time off during the holidays.”