I mentioned this last week, before TwentyFourBit took off on our road trip, but a story that involves Woody Guthrie, Wilco, and Jay Farrar certainly deserves its own post. In an interview with the Austin Chronicle (via The Daily Swarm), Centro-matic’s Will Johnson revealed some huge news about his involvement in the next installment of unreleased Woody Guthrie lyrics set to music composed by a living artist: Jay Farrar, of Son Volt and formerly of Uncle Tupelo, has taken the torch from Wilco and Billy Bragg, helming the recording of the next volume in the Mermaid Avenue series.
What’s more, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James is also performing on the album, according to Johnson. There’s no release date set yet, but the songs have already been put to tape and are currently in the mixing stage.
My initial reaction to this news was that Farrar trying his hand at the same Guthrie project as his former estranged band mate and songwriting partner Jeff Tweedy could permanently burn the Uncle Tupelo bridge, but now I’m thinking the promotion of this volume could make for a pretty awesome reunion tour. I suppose it’s going to take a few more chance encounters in Mexico for that to happen though.