A collaborative follow-up to Wilco and Billy Bragg’s 1998/2000 Mermaid Avenue double-volume, in which previously unpublished Woody Guthrie lyrics were adapted to new original music, will finally see the light of day next January via Rounder Records. As originally reported back in ‘09, former Uncle Tupelo co-leader Jay Farrar joined My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, Centro-matic’s Will Johnson, and Anders Parker for the forthcoming set, titled New Multitudes.

What’s more, the official Woody Centennial site reports (via American Songwriter) that his estate will honor what would have been the folk pioneer’s 100th birthday next year with yet another tribute record: Note of Hope, a 12-track compilation of songs adapted from archival Guthrie writings by bassist Rob Wasserman with Lou Reed, Jackson Browne, Nellie McKay, Tom Morello, Pete Seeger, Madeleine Peyroux, Van Dyke Parks, and others.

Meanwhile, Mermaid Avenue will get the box-set treatment — composed of both previous volumes, an outtakes disc, and the making-of documentary Man In The Sand — next spring. You can hear samples of Note of Hope (due in September) here and check out the tracklist along with a stream of Jackson Browne’s cut, “You Know the Night,” below.

**Update: Check out a video of Buffalo Springfield playing “For What It’s Worth” at the Bridge School reunion below.

Neil Young’s annual Bridge School Benefit always boasts an impressive lineup and this year’s 2-day charity event is no different: In addition to the debut of a T-Bone Burnett-led supergroup dubbed Speaking Clock Revue, which includes Elton John, Leon Russell, Elvis Costello, Ralph Stanley, Jeff Bridges, and Neko Case (!), Neil and Pegi Young have reformed the surviving Buffalo Springfield lineup (Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay) for the classic group’s first public performance under their original name since 1968.

Other performers set for the October 23-24 event in Mountain View, CA (as confirmed by Thrasher’s Wheat and LA Times ) include Pearl Jam, Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson, Modest Mouse, Billy Idol, Lucinda Williams, Jackson Browne, and Grizzly Bear.

Neil knows how to put on a show, right? Ticket sales begin on Sunday (9/19) at 10AM PST here.

Actor/comedian Ed Helms may have debuted his singing chops to the masses in a pseudo-improvised scene in last year’s The Hangover, but he actually has an interesting musical past of note, having played in a trio in NYC back in the day called the Lonesome Trio. Nowadays (when he isn’t wondering “what tigers dream of when they take a little tiger snooze”), Helms is a bluegrass fiend with his very own festival set to premiere at Los Angeles’ Largo this weekend.

As Spinner reports, Helms recruited Jackson Browne, comedian/banjoist Steve Martin, Gillian Welch, Dave Rawlings, Nickel Creek, and John C. “Reed Rothchild” Reilly for the series of concerts, dubbed “L.A. Bluegrass Situation,” on March 18-22.

And for those hoping for another improvised masterpiece from the comedian-heavy lineup, fear not: “There’ll be a lot of late-night jamming,” Helms said.

As we previously reported, many famous rock musicians and a songwriter for Sesame Street were outraged late last year when news broke that their music had been used to torture inmates at Guantanamo Bay. Whereas Drowning Pool’s Steve Benton said it was “an honor to think that perhaps [their] song could be used to quell another 9/11 attack or something like that,” Trent Reznor, Rage Against The Machine, and many more were understandably furious.

Now Reznor and Rage’s Tom Morello have joined the National Campaign to Close Guantanamo, along with R.E.M., Pearl Jam, the Roots, Rosanne Cash, Rise Against, Billy Bragg, and Jackson Browne, Huffington Post reports.