In 1998, Wilco and Billy Bragg joined forces for Mermaid Avenue, an album of previously unheard lyrics written by the late folk icon Woody Guthrie organized by his daughter Nora. It was followed by a second volume a couple years later, and a third in 2012 as part of the Complete Sessions box set. The project featured additional musicians, such as Natalie Merchant, and last night at Wilco's Solid Sound festival they performed the LP live for the first time. Wilco and Bragg have done some of the songs together before, but never the full album, as they didn't tour behind Vol. 1 nor Vol. 2. At the MASS MoCA in North Adams, MA, they played songs from throughout the three volumes out of order.
Incidentally, a collection of previously unreleased Mermaid Avenue demos by late Wilco multi-instrumentalist Jay Bennett surfaced on Bandcamp a couple of weeks ago.
Watch clips from last night below.
