folk Legends unite

TWO FOLK LEGENDS AND DEAR FRIENDS ARE TOGETHER AGAIN

JOHN McCUTCHEON AND TOM PAXTON JOIN FORCES FOR THEIR SECOND DUO ALBUM OUT JANUARY 9, 2026

McCUTCHEON ANNOUNCES ANNUAL JANUARY CALIFORNIA SWING WITH ADDITIONAL TOUR DATES THROUGHOUT 2026 

SMOKE RISE, GA – In early August 2021, John McCutcheon reached out to his longtime friend Tom Paxton with a simple idea: why not use Zoom—a newly essential tool in those pandemic days—to connect, ease the isolation of COVID, and maybe write a few songs together?  That following Monday at 2:00 PM Eastern, they logged in. One Monday led to the next, and soon the weekly sessions became a ritual. More than four years later, they’re still at it.

“I think we have enough for another album,” Tom Paxton remarked during one of our regular Mondays-at-Two Zoom writing sessions.  McCutcheon responded to his friend “Tom, as keeper of the demos, I can tell you that we have enough for ten more albums.”  According to John, It’s been that kind of partnership.  It was born out of loneliness and cabin fever during the pandemic and continued well past its limits.  Today, it’s just a habit of two old pals who have new jokes to tell, sage sports observations to dispense, hungry for news about our fellow musicians to share, and the never-ending wonder of creating a new song in the course of an hour.  Tom is one of the greatest American songwriters to ever lift a quill.  Me?  I was a fourteen-year-old kid learning Woody Guthrie songs from a library songbook.  We met in the 80’s and we ain’t done yet.  

Billy Collins once said, “Your pen can be a dictation device or it can be a flashlight.”  It’s been that kind of abandon and curiosity that has fueled Tom for going on ninety years.  He’s leaving wide and generous footprints for the rest of us and I’m proud to walk beside him these days.  Sure, there are nine other albums-worth of songs, but we’ll leave most of those to others.  In the meantime, thanks for joining us here.  Welcome along for the ride.

Neither man, with already monumental catalogs that tower over much of modern folk music, could have predicted the creative flood that began that summer afternoon. Their first collaboration, Together (2023), gathered fourteen songs from those early sessions. The album topped the folk charts and earned glowing reviews across multiple genres. Yet those fourteen tracks represented only a fraction of nearly two hundred songs born from their virtual meetings.

Now comes Together Again (Appalsongs, 2026)—another fourteen songs from two of the most revered songwriters in acoustic music.

This time, things look a little different: at 88, Paxton has retired from the road, and McCutcheon, a spry 73, has scaled back his touring schedule. But both remain at the height of their creative powers.

The album opens with The Future, inspired by McCutcheon’s many appearances at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas—a launching ground for countless folk and bluegrass careers. He recalls seeing Alison Krauss as a teenager and Molly Tuttle in her early twenties, recognizing in both the promise of a bright future. For Paxton and McCutcheon—artists whose careers span over half a century—the song feels like a joyful passing of the torch.  There are songs of reflection and remembrance (Old Dog, Artie’s Last Stand, Rebel Gal), a heartfelt tribute to their friend and mentor Pete Seeger (Pathfinder), playful humor (Cheatin’ While I’m Eatin’), the stirring Stop at Nothing, and, of course, a baseball story—Famous for a Day.

With wide-ranging insight, impeccable craftsmanship, and luminous performances, Together Again stands as proof of the deep well these two songwriters continue to draw from. These are songs only decades of life, love, and music can produce.

It’s a rare and welcome thing to find them—Together Again.

For a full list of John McCutcheon tour dates, please visit this link.  The California tour routing is as follows:

1/9/2026            Sofia Center for the Arts                                            Sacramento, CA

1/10/2026         Center for the Arts                                                        Grass Valley, CA

1/11/2026         Sebastiani Theatre                                                        Sonoma, CA

1/12/2026         Church of the Bretheren                                               Modesto, CA 

1/14/2026         Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno                 Fresno, CA

1/15/2026          Freight and Salvage                                                     Berkeley, CA

1/16/2026         Felton Music Hall                                                          Felton, CA

1/17/2026         Devil Mountain Coffeehouse                                      Walnut Creek, CA