One of today\u2019s more exciting new releases is Del McCoury\u2019s Del and Woody, for which the bluegrass legend interpreted a new batch of lyric from Woody Guthrie\u2019s extensive vaults. Woody\u2019 daughter, Nora, first heard McCoury in 2009 and thought he\u2019d be a perfect fit for something like this. Where similar projects have brought Woody into more contemporary territory, McCoury writes in a traditional style that Woody himself would recognize. I asked Nora Guthrie a bit about the project. <\/p>\n
What made you choose Del for this project? What about him made you think his writing would work with Woody\u2019s lyrics?<\/strong><\/p>\n When I first heard Del\u2019s band perform at the Newport Folk Festival, they reminded me of a band that Woody was in when he was in his late teens living in Pampa, TX. There\u2019s a photo of him with the band, The Pampa Junior Chamber of Commerce Band, wearing a broad white cowboy hat, chaps, a western style handkerchief around the neck, and he\u2019s holding a stand up bass, with mandolins, banjos, guitars, and a pile of instruments at his feet. If Woody had stayed on that course, I thought, he could have ended up writing and playing in a band just like Del\u2019s. The instruments were the same, the \u201cvibe\u201d was the same. That\u2019s where I first got the idea, the light bulb went off. What if we could \u201cgo back in time\u201d and hear Woody Guthrie lyrics in his familiar, old-timey, hillbilly, bluegrassey style? And would I dare ask bluegrass GREAT Del McCoury if he would be interested in working on such a project?! I would have been honored if he had said yes to recording just one song. But to have a full cd \u2013 12 brand new compositions \u2013 that was the mother-lode. That would be historic. Because the weight of such a project, a collaboration of two such important musicians, would become a staple of Woody Guthrie history and scholarship. I\u2019m sure Del\u2019s own musical legacy will reflect upon this project as well.<\/p>\n