John McCutcheon didn't set out with the intention to make his 39th album when he did -- he just accidentally wrote 30 songs. And so the multi-instrumentalist had the February release "Ghost Light" on his hands ahead of his already-planned forthcoming tribute to Pete Seeger, dropping in January in honor of the folk singer's 100th birthday.
"Seeger is not only an icon of American folk music [and] American culture, but he was a great friend of mine. He was a mentor to me, a frequent singing partner," McCutcheon says. The homage to Seeger felt right following tributes to Woody Guthrie and Joe Hill -- the third leg on a three-legged stool of artists who heavily influenced McCutcheon. And because he's been fortunate enough to never have a record company "breathing down his neck," or dictating what his next project will be, McCutcheon can put out back-to-back albums when he accidentally writes a batch of stories ready to be told.
FAQ
John McCutcheon
WHEN — 7:30 p.m. Nov. 29
WHERE — Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville
COST — Sold out; contact venue for waitlist information
INFO — 443-5600, waltonartscenter.org, folkmusic.com
"I chronicled my kids growing up through eight albums -- one was all about different kinds of families, one was union songs for kids, then I did a four seasons cycle. So that's kind of what my recording career has been. 'Ooh, let's do a baseball album; I love baseball. How about Woody Guthrie album? How about an album of songs I co-write with some of my favorite authors?'
"One avenue I [sometimes] take," he goes on, "I'll hear a story that's a great historical event or something just happened in the news and I'll say, 'OK, time to perform a rescue operation on this story.' Rescue it from the inevitable death of the 24-hour news cycle, or 100 more years of history being piled on top of it. And you write these songs so that you can sing the story to people every night. And looking back, I realize that's what I'm interested in."
And that's what he's passing on to others at this stage in his nearly 50-year career. Though known for his mastery of an impressive spread of traditional folk instruments, McCutcheon also teaches -- turning his focus to songwriting in recent years.
"One of the things I always talk about is the 'why' of songwriting. I mean, we live in this culture that everything is prepared for us. We buy our entertainment; other people make music and make movies and write books for us, and we just get inured to the whole notion that that isn't the way it always was and it's not the way it needs to be. So it's really freeing, I think, for a lot of people to think, 'Wow, you mean I can add my own voice to the conversation?'"
NAN What's Up on 11/25/2018