''New Multitudes'' is a

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...

tribute album performed by

Jay Farrar Jay Farrar (born December 26, 1966) is an American songwriter and musician currently based in St. Louis. A member of two critically acclaimed music groups, Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt, he began his solo music career in 2001. Beyond his estab ...

, Will Johnson,

Anders Parker Anders Parker is an American singer-songwriter, guitar player, singer and multi-instrumentalist with a career spanning two decades. He has performed and recorded as a solo artist and as a key member in bands such as Varnaline and Space Needle. ...

, and

Jim James James Edward Olliges Jr. (born April 27, 1978), professionally known as Jim James or Yim Yames, is an American vocalist, guitarist, producer, and primary songwriter of the rock band My Morning Jacket. He has also released several solo albums. ...

to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Guthrie's birth, released through

Rounder Records Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by Al ...

on February 28, 2012. The project was initiated by Woody's daughter

Nora Guthrie Nora Lee Guthrie (born January 2, 1950) is the daughter of American folk musician and singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie and his second wife Marjorie Mazia Guthrie, sister of singer-songwriter Arlo Guthrie, and granddaughter of renowned Yiddish po ...

to have Farrar add music to her father's lyrics—specifically, his earliest songwriting years in Los Angeles. Over the course of several years, he invited the others to collaborate and recorded at a variety of locations across the United States. Each artist wrote music to lyrics that inspired him and presented it to the collaborators for recording. The result is an album with diverse musical genres that has garnered positive reviews from critics for its varied styles and instrumentation. The quartet promoted the album with a small promotional tour that took them to record stores, radio programs, theaters, and

folk festival A folk festival celebrates traditional folk crafts and folk music. This list includes folk festivals worldwide, except those with only a partial focus on folk music or arts. Folk festivals may also feature folk dance or ethnic foods. Handicra ...

s. The group has plans for releasing a second volume.

Development and recording

''New Multitudes'' is one of several tribute albums for American

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

singer-songwriter

. Guthrie died in 1967 after an extended battle with

Huntington's disease Huntington's disease (HD), also known as Huntington's chorea, is a neurodegenerative disease that is mostly inherited. The earliest symptoms are often subtle problems with mood or mental abilities. A general lack of coordination and an unst ...

, but his abbreviated career helped to inspire innumerable musicians during his lifetime as well as in the 1960s

folk revival The American folk music revival began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Big Bill Broonzy, Billie Holiday, Richard Dyer-Benn ...

movement. Initially, this project was announced as a Farrar solo album with Johnson as a contributor. It was intended to follow previous efforts to elaborate on the archives of the Foundation by

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is ...

and

Wilco Wilco is an American alternative rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup changed frequently dur ...

with the albums ''

Mermaid Avenue ''Mermaid Avenue'' is a 1998 album of previously unheard lyrics written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie, put to music written and performed by British singer Billy Bragg and the American band Wilco. The project was the first of several ...

'' (1998) and ''

Mermaid Avenue Vol. II ''Mermaid Avenue Vol. II'' is a 2000 album (music), album of previously unheard lyrics written by United States, American folk music, folk singer Woody Guthrie, put to music written and performed by United Kingdom, British singer Billy Bragg an ...

'' (2000), Blackfire's ''Woody Guthrie Singles'' (2003),

Jonatha Brooke Jonatha Brooke (born January 23, 1964) is an American folk rock singer-songwriter and guitarist from Massachusetts, United States. Her music merges elements of folk, rock and pop, often with poignant lyrics and complex harmonies. She has been a ...

's ''The Works'' (2008), and the various artists compilation ''Note of Hope: A Celebration of Woody Guthrie'' (2011). Farrar was initially invited to collaborate with Bragg on the ''Mermaid Avenue'' sessions in 1995, but felt uncomfortable working on the material with someone else.

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

wanted all of

Son Volt Son Volt is an American rock band formed in 1994 by Jay Farrar after the breakup of Uncle Tupelo. The band's current line-up consists of Farrar (vocals, guitar), Andrew DuPlantis (bass guitar), John Horton (guitar), Mark Patterson (drums), and Ma ...

to collaborate with Bragg, but after Farrar declined, he kept the idea in mind. In 2006, he approached Nora Guthrie about returning to her father's lyrics and she agreed. To write his own batch of songs, Farrar looked through several of the over 3,000 handwritten lyrics that Guthrie's estate has preserved before incidentally focusing on his California period. The connection to Guthrie's Los Angeles years was accidental—Farrar simply chose lyrics that he found compelling and Nora pointed out that they came from a relatively brief period of her father's life when he lived in Los Angeles. He also made a conscious decision to write instrumentation in a style more similar to Guthrie's than other tribute projects, such as

The Klezmatics The Klezmatics are an American klezmer music group based in New York City, who have achieved fame singing in several languages, most notably mixing older Yiddish tunes with other types of more contemporary music of differing origins. They have ...

klezmer Klezmer ( yi, קלעזמער or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for l ...

-based ''

Woody Guthrie's Happy Joyous Hanukkah ''Woody Guthrie's Happy Joyous Hanukkah'' is an album by The Klezmatics, released in 2006. It contains Hanukkah-themed songs, of which the lyrics to most were written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie in 1949. Critical reception AllMusic w ...

'' and ''

Wonder Wheel The Wonder Wheel is a eccentric Ferris wheel at Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park at Coney Island in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The wheel is located on a plot bounded by West 12th Street to the west, Bowery Street to the north, ...

''. Farrar had never listened to the Bragg and Wilco material to ensure that his songwriting would not be influenced by it. Immediately before going to the Archives in autumn 2006, Farrar invited his

Gob Iron Gob Iron is an American musical group officially formed in 2006. It consists of Uncle Tupelo/Son Volt's Jay Farrar and Varnaline's Anders Parker. Their debut album, '' Death Songs for the Living'' was released on October 31, 2006 by Transmit Soun ...

collaborator

to come with him and look over potential material and the two returned several times over a period of months gathering lyrics for composition before recording together starting on July 14, 2007. As they found lyrics that interested them, they had reproductions mailed to their homes from the Archives to work on the material at their leisure. The duo finished recording several songs throughout the year but did not have enough material to complete the album. The recordings were also made without a budget or record contract for release. Nora Guthrie played some of the 2009 recordings for Yames and Farrar invited him to join the duo after discovering that he had visited the Archives as well. Yames wrote the tune for "Hoping Machine" and suggested that fellow

Monsters of Folk Monsters of Folk was an American supergroup, consisting of Jim James from My Morning Jacket, Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis from Bright Eyes, Will Johnson from Centro-matic and M. Ward, solo artist and half of She & Him. The band was formed in 200 ...

collaborator Johnson accompany them. Farrar mailed Johnson some lyrics and he composed "Chorine My Sheba Queen" that afternoon, while Yames was attracted to the lyrics of "Empty Bed Blues" while recovering from an injury. Once the entire quartet had composed songs, they entered studios in Brooklyn and East St. Louis throughout 2009 and 2010, recording songs with live vocals in one or two takes, crowding around a single microphone. The group attempted to have the recordings ready for a 2011 release, but had to finish the album too late in the year. Farrar has characterized the songwriting process for this album as easier than his typical work composing new lyrics as it allowed him to be less self-conscious.

Tour

The quartet toured the United States to support the album, playing all of the groups' Guthrie compositions as well as some solo work. Bobby Bare, Jr. and

Sarah Jaffe Sarah Allison Jaffe (born January 29, 1986) is an American singer-songwriter from Denton, Texas. Known for her distinctively clear vocals, she has worked as a singer-songwriter across many musical genres, including acoustic-folk, indie pop and ...

opened for them. Early in the tour, the group discussed reconvening for further dates, but decided to cap their initial outing with the

Newport Folk Festival Newport Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival. It was one of the first modern music festivals in America, and remains a foca ...

. The performers also released a four-track 10"

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

"Let's Multiply" exclusive for

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

Members

*Jay Farrar –

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

*Will Johnson –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

, vocals *Anders Parker – drums, rhythm guitar, vocals *Yim Yames –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, vocals

Dates

Additionally, Parker performed some of the New Multitudes material at the initial

benefit concert A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate hu ...

SwitchPoint hosted by IntraHealth International in

Saxapahaw, North Carolina Saxapahaw ()
from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

on April 20.

Response

The tour was well-received, with ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' critic Nate Chinen describing their Webster Hall performance as familiar, but with a unique confluence of styles from each lyricist, from Yames' "hazy magnetism" to Parker's "straightforward folk-rock earnestness." ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

''s review by Sam Adams praised the performers by concluding that "all four musicians are worthy of following in Guthrie's footsteps, each in his own distinctive way."

Reception

Critical reception

The album has received generally positive reviews from critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

score of 81, based on 13 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".

MusicOMH MusicOMH (stylized as musicOMH) is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B. History MusicOMH was founded and launched by ...

's Max Raymond has praised the album as being "engrossing" due to the emotional depth of the lyrics as well as the warm and relaxed sound of the studio recording.

Will Hermes Will Hermes (born December 27, 1960 in Jamaica, Queens, New York City) is an American author, broadcaster, journalist and critic who has written extensively about popular music. He is a longtime contributor to ''Rolling Stone'' and to National Pu ...

of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' gave the album a mixed review, praising the vocal harmonies. The diversity in sound was highlighted by

AbsolutePunk ''AbsolutePunk'' was a website, online community, and alternative music news source founded by Jason Tate (the most recent CEO). The website mainly focused on artists who are relatively unknown to mainstream audiences, but it was known to fea ...

's Gregory Robson, Jason Schneider of ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'' and

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

's Chris Martins, ranging from

electric blues Electric blues refers to any type of blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplifier, amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the ...

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...

as well as the atypical lyrics from Guthrie—focusing on the city of Los Angeles rather than his communist-leaning politics and

Dustbowl The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of both natural factors (severe drought) an ...

tragedy narratives. ''

American Songwriter ''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee. History The ''American Songwri ...

''s Evan Schlansky noted the same apolitical tone of the lyrics, but qualified that with Yames' delivery on "My Revolutionary Mind". He praised the album's diversity as a strength, allowing each vocalist an opportunity to display his unique talents. Writing for ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', Randy Lewis agrees that the songwriting diversity is a strength, comparing individual tracks with

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...

The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise w ...

, Richard Thompson, and

John Mellencamp John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his catchy brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrument ...

. Graham Reid of ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

'' also notes similarities to R.E.M., fellow Guthrie admirer

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

The Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...

, and

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

. The

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

review by Jeff Strowe points out the

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

influences in the album, adding to its emotional depth.

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...

's Kim Ruehl has criticized the diversity and complexity of the album as contrary to the simplicity of Guthrie's actual recordings, concluding that "If this weren't presented so staunchly as being at least part 'Woody Guthrie album,' it might be a little easier to swallow." Doug Collette of

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

also reviewed the deluxe edition bonus disc, comparing it favorably to the proper album as well as the previous Farrar–Parker collaboration Gob Iron. The album topped American publication ''Billboard'''s

Heatseekers Infrared homing is a passive weapon guidance system which uses the infrared (IR) light emission from a target to track and follow it seamlessly. Missiles which use infrared seeking are often referred to as "heat-seekers" since infrared is rad ...

Sales chart performance

Track listing

All lyrics written by Woody Guthrie, all lead vocals by co-writer. #"Hoping Machine" (Farrar) – 4:52 #"Fly High" (Parker) – 3:45 #"My Revolutionary Mind" (Yames) – 4:43 #"VD City" (Johnson) – 4:05 #"Old L.A." (Parker) – 3:03 #"Talking Empty Bed Blues" (Yames) – 4:09 #"Chorine My Sheba Queen" (Johnson) – 4:50 #"Careless Reckless Love" (Farrar) – 5:01 #"Angel's Blues" (Parker) – 4:38 #"No Fear" (Johnson) – 3:36 #"Changing World" (Yames) – 3:48 #"New Multitudes" (Farrar) – 2:47 Limited edition bonus disc All music written and performed by Farrar and Parker. #"Around New York" – 0:51 #"Jake Walk Blues" – 1:59 #"Whereabouts Can I Hide" – 2:51 #"Old Kokaine" – 3:04 #"I Was a Goner" – 3:42 #"San Antone Meat House" – 3:59 #"Dopefiend Robber" – 4:41 #"World's On Fire" – 3:12 #"When I Get Home" – 3:51 #"Atom Dance" – 2:34 #"Your Smile Cured Me" – 2:41

Personnel

– artwork, lyrics *

–

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

* Will Johnson – vocals, guitar,

saw A saw is a tool consisting of a tough blade, wire, or chain with a hard toothed edge. It is used to cut through material, very often wood, though sometimes metal or stone. The cut is made by placing the toothed edge against the material and mo ...

on "Chorine My Sheba Queen", composition, production *

– vocals, guitar, composition, production *

Yim Yames James Edward Olliges Jr. (born April 27, 1978), professionally known as Jim James or Yim Yames, is an American vocalist, guitarist, producer, and primary songwriter of the rock band My Morning Jacket. He has also released several solo albums. ...

– vocals, guitar,

, composition, production Technical *John Agnello – mixing *Larissa Collins –

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

, package design *Mike Martin – engineering *

Matt Pence Matthew Louis Pence (born April 13, 1972) is an American recording engineer, producer, and drummer. He owns and manages The Echo Lab studio in Denton, Texas. Early life and education Pence is from St. Louis, Missouri. In 1990, Pence moved to Den ...

– mixing *Kevin Ratterman – mixing *Brad Sarno – mastering * Mark Spencer – mixing *

Anna Webber Anna Webber (born August 28, 1986) is an American photographer best known for her musician portrait photography, in addition to being an official ambassador for The Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSSA) Her work has appeared in ' ...

– photography Additional musicians *Buck Carter *Jimmy Griffin *Creston Lea *Konrad Meissner

References

External links

Stream of the album
from

Team Coco A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interde ...

Woody Guthrie 100th anniversary homepagePress release from Rounder Records
{{authority control 2012 debut albums Anders Parker albums Collaborative albums Concept albums Folk rock albums by American artists Jay Farrar albums Jim James albums Los Angeles in fiction Rounder Records albums Will Johnson (musician) albums Woody Guthrie tribute albums