For those unaware, John McCutcheon has been heavily involved in the Folk music scene for fifty years.

As a multi-instrumentalist, a traditional music archivist, one of the primary revivalists of the hammer dulcimer, he’s also a prolific and wide-ranging songwriter, who spent much of his life touring before Covid.

On September 2nd, 2022 he is releasing Leap!, his third album of songs written entirely during the pandemic. It will also be McCutcheon’s 43rd release in his busy career.

1. The Ride
2. The Troubles
3. The Third Way
4. Shadowland
5. The Song When You Are Dead
6. Sorry Land
7. Second Hand
8. Fuller Brush
9. Touched
10. Everyday
11. Nobody Knows
12. The First Ones
13. Recess
14. Listen
15. Mistaken
16. You Used to Be
17. Work
18. Kora on the Subway

The album opens on the upbeat and joyous The Ride (which tells the tale of a usually-timid kid taking a brave leap at the local quarry, recalling his grandad telling him, ‘If you ain’t livin’, then you’re dyin’!), the heartfelt yearn within The Troubles and the gently melodic The Third Way and then follows those up seamlessly with the aching Shadowland, the quietly rhythmic The Song When You Are Dead, the upbeat handclapper Sorry Land and then we get the languishing Second Hand, the jubilant Fuller Brush and the beautifully crafted Touched.

Next up are a couple of my own personal favorites from this new collection back to back in the form of the melodic hipsway within Everyday and the somber, piano-led Nobody Knows and they are in turn backed by the free spirited The First Ones, the softly reflected Recess, the old timey swirl of Listen, the cheerfully mirthful Mistaken, the album rounding out on the tender recounting within You Used to Be, the intricate storytelling within Work and then closing on the piano-led Kora on the Subway.

The new 18-song collection tells a lot of varied stories, journeying from Appalachia, to Belfast, to New York City. His longtime bandmates joined him on the album, including Stuart Duncan on fiddle, keyboardist Jon Carroll, and bassist JT Brown. Guest artists include drummer Robert “Jos” Jospé and guitarist Pete Kennedy, Irish flutist Seamus Egan, and singers Kathy Mattea, Tim O’Brien, and Tommy Sands.

Leap! follows on the heels of Cabin Fever: Songs from the Quarantine (2020) and Bucket List (2021) and that brings to the tally 54 new songs written and released since the 2020 lockdown.

John McCutcheon - The First Ones [Official Video]

Official Website