News

Song of the Month Club!

The Song of the Month Club is a unique opportunity to not only get songs months before they are commercially available, but also have a window into the writing process…and even offer some feedback.

As a member of the Song of the Month Club you’ll get access to a special Members Area where you’ll receive:

*A new, previously-unreleased song every month. Sometimes they’ll be rough demos, sometimes early studio mixes, other times final CD-ready recordings. Some months there’ll even be multiple downloads so that you can see the development of the song, or alternate versions. Read more »

New Album Out September 15th! Pre-Order for a Signed & Numbered CD!

The long-awaited all-Woody Guthrie by John McCutcheon, "This Land: Woody Guthrie's America" is slated for a September 15th release here at folkmusic.com. The public release is a month later. It is hailed as one of the most comprehensive and stunning tributes to this American icon. Not only is there an all-star version of "This Land Is Your" (featuring Willie Nelson, among others), but beautiful versions of Guthrie songs, classic and unknown. Read more »

Woody Guthrie Album Near Completion

Next year (July 14th, specifically) marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Woody Guthrie. In celebration of that I'm releasing an entire album of Woody's songs. Some are old war horses (Deportees, Pastures of Plenty, Mail Myself to You), others are relatively obscure (1913 Massacre, Biggest Thing that Man Has Ever Done), some completed long after his death by admirers (This Morning I Was Born Again, Harness Up the Day, Old Cap Moore), some never before heard (This Is Our Country Here) and some iconic (This Land Is Your Land). Read more »

Si Kahn's Silver Spoon & Local 1000 Benefit

AFM LOCAL 1000 INVITES YOU TO A SPECIAL PERFORMANCE OF
THE NORA THEATER COMPANY'S PRODUCTION OF SILVER SPOON

A musical comedy written by Local 1000 member
and writer/musician/activist Si Kahn (music and lyrics) and Amy Merrill (book)

Join Si Kahn, award-winning folk musician and Local 1000 President John
McCutcheon for an evening of musical theater and meeting friends
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139
5:30 to 7:00
reception and conversation with Si Kahn, John McCutcheon
proceeds to benefit AFM Local 1000
7:30 to 9:30 Read more »

May Day!

Today is the day that is celebrated as Labor Day in most of the world. Ironically, it was established as such internationally in 1890 to honor the fight for the 8-hour day (Remember the 8-hour day? Bring back the 8-hour day!) and those killed in the 1886 Haymarket Massacre in Chicago. So the US, while the honoree of May Day, chose to establish our Labor Day in September 1894 because President Grover Cleveland feared connecting it to Haymarket. Me? I figure those who build, maintain, and clean up this world deserve at least two days so I’m happy to celebrate twice. Read more »

Some of John's Instruments for Sale!

While I am a lover of musical instruments throughout the world (and have a house-full of them) I am neither an instrument collector nor am I a hoarder. In fact, it’s always seemed wrong somehow to have good instrument languishing, undeservedly un-played. So every few years I look into my closet and see what old warhorse has been idle too long to justify…and I try to get them into the hands of people who would give them good homes and new lives. Read more »

New! On-Line Songwriting Lesson Available!

One of the things I enjoy the most…and get to do the least…is teach songwriting. My travel schedule usually prevents me from arriving in time or staying long enough to do workshops and master classes while I’m touring. Now, thanks to the wonders of the Internet, I can do one-on-one video lessons on Skype and I’m offering them beginning this month. Here’s how it works:

BEFORE YOU START

*You have to have Skype on your computer and a Skype user name. Don’t worry, it’s a free program. Check out: http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/home Read more »

Welcome to the new Folkmusic.com site!

Welcome home! Thanks for visiting us at our new host, we're all dressed up and ready to go. You'll notice a few new places to visit here at folkmusic.com:

*The Store has a completely new look. Listings of every track on every album. Even browse lyrics for "that song about World War I" or "something about Alaska..." Plus simpler, more secure, and more numerous payment options. Whew!

*The Community has lots of different little alcoves to settle on down for a read... Read more »

New Album: Passage released October 19th

This amazing new collection of songs was recorded in Decatur, GA and in Nashville with a host of John’s musical friends. Kathy Mattea, Suzy Bogguss, Tim O’Brien, Stuart Duncan, Mollie O’Brien, and John Jennings guest on this 14-song CD. The playing is stellar, the singing is angelic, the writing is top-notch, and the performance is wonderful.

Reviews have raved..

"for the umpteenth year in a row he delivers a home run of a record"

"no one explores the uncharted, unspoken territories of the grown-up heart like John McCutcheon" Read more »

John on Prairie Home Companion 35th Anniversary Show!

Back when I was a student at St. John’s University (http://www.csbsju.edu/) in the very early 1970’s, I would wake each morning to the college public radio station, KSJR. The DJ was a deep-voiced, almost somnambulant-toned fellow named Garrison Keillor. He played old records, introduced me to the music of Mississippi John Hurt, had occasional live guests, a peculiar affection for the song “Help Me, Rhonda,” and a cadre of sponsors that expanded even the casual listener’s bounds of credulity. “The Early Morning Show” was my daily morning constitutional. Read more »