John McCutcheon, Musician discusses career longevity, songwriting tips, and latest album
Send us a text By any normal measure, John McCutcheon, at age seventy-two, should be retired. He’s punched the clock in the international folk music world for over a half century. He’s been a respected archivist of Appalachian music. He was in the forefront of popularizing the hammer dulcimer and is considered a world master on the instrument. He helped revolutionize children’s and family music with five consecutive Grammy-nominated albums. He co- founded and led the fastest-growing Local in ...
By any normal measure, John McCutcheon, at age seventy-two, should be
retired. He’s punched the clock in the international folk music world for over
a half century. He’s been a respected archivist of Appalachian music. He
was in the forefront of popularizing the hammer dulcimer and is considered
a world master on the instrument. He helped revolutionize children’s and
family music with five consecutive Grammy-nominated albums. He co-
founded and led the fastest-growing Local in the Musicians Union. His
songwriting is hailed around the globe and his instruction books introduced
thousands to the joys of their own music making. He recorded and
released tribute albums to Woody Guthrie, labor musician Joe Hill, and his
friend and mentor, Pete Seeger. He even starred in a one-man
musical, Joe Hill's Last Will, which toured nationally and internationally.
And he has consistently been one of the most popular touring musicians in
the folk world. Yes, by any normal standard, he could proudly hang up the
banjo and retire.
But John McCutcheon is just getting started.
“I feel as though I’m finally getting the hang of doing my job well.”
During the pandemic, when a lot of the music world shut down,
McCutcheon wrote and released three recordings of new material. He
proved that Zoom could be used for good as well as for evil by forging
online songwriting partnerships with a half dozen fellow writers, not the
least of whom was the iconic Tom Paxton. They even released a joint
album, Together, which not only won critical raves but was dubbed “the
best album I’ve ever done, period.” by Grammy Lifetime Award winner
Paxton.
And, just when you think he can’t surprise you anymore, he drops album
#45: Field of Stars (release date: Janary 10, 2025), a stunning collection
of original and cowritten songs people are calling “the best of his career.”
Field of Stars was supposed to be recorded and released in 2020.
Musicians were hired, studio dates booked. And then came COVID. So,
the songs where shelved until it was safe to go into a small windowless
space with some of your best mates. But then came the explosion of
writing that John produced during the lockdown. Three albums in three
years, each seemingly better than the last. After tackling the
McCutcheon/Paxton project, he was ready to take the long-delayed 2020
album down from the shelf and get back to work on it. But t
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