JOHN McCUTCHEON RESCHEDULED DATES FOR HIS ANNUAL CALIFORNIA TOUR SET FOR JUNE 2022
The renowned multi-instrumentalist folk musician, author, storyteller and activist is finally returning in person to the Golden State this June for what is traditionally his annual January pilgrimage.
SMOKE RISE, GA -- For fifty years John McCutcheon has toured the world with the exception of the past two years. Without planes to catch, soundchecks to make, concert halls and clubs to fill, he stayed home and wrote – a lot. He composed his last recording, Cabin Fever: Songs from the Quarantine, in a mere three weeks but he didn’t stop there.
“When you’re in that zone, you never want to leave it. It’s exciting, fascinating, revealing. You’re not entirely in control and you’re just hanging on for the ride!” he muses.
And what a ride it’s been! Once McCutcheon hit one hundred new songs, he decided to step back and try to figure out what, exactly, to do with this bounty.
The result was the first of a series of new recordings, Bucket List, which was released 9/17/22. Filled with his well-known storytelling prowess, McCutcheon explores a small town in France that has harbored refugees for centuries, the piano that first played “We Shall Overcome,” his own musical mentors, moonshine, kids’ crayon art, the atonement of a former white supremacist, and even the World Lacrosse Games. Rich with character and detail, each song is wrapped in his warm baritone and the loving attention that only a master songwriter brings to his craft. The release is available on all streaming platforms, if a download link is desired please contact [email protected]
While Cabin Fever was a stark musical presentation, a single instrument and a voice, Bucket List has a richer palette. John brings in some of his longtime musical partners, Jon Carroll on piano, JT Brown on bass, and Stuart Duncan on fiddle and mandolin. Adding his own multi-instrumental skills on guitar, banjo, and piano, the album retains the intimacy of “a conversation with an old friend,” as the Oakland Tribune has previously referred to the musician.
Bucket List, an 18-song feast, is McCutcheon’s 42nd release. He’ll follow it up with Leap!, out 9/2/22, a further exploration of the songs composed recently. “Having too many songs is a nice problem to have,” he jokes. “I love these stories and wanted to share what I found therein. We simply recorded song after song, only dividing them up into different releases when we realized they all couldn’t fit on a single CD. So, there you go.”
The Smoke Rise, GA-based musician, whom Johnny Cash once referred to as “the most impressive instrumentalist I’ve ever heard” is greatly looking forward to sharing the new music as well as beloved favorites on the live circuit with his fans across the globe in 2022 and beyond. McCutcheon will return for select California dates in January 2023.
Tour dates are as follows:
06/05/22 Sofia Center For The Arts Sacramento, CA
06/06/22 Sebastiani Theater Sonoma, CA
06/07/22 Modesto Church of Brethren Modesto, CA
06/08/22 World Records Bakersfield, CA
06/09/22 UU Church of Fresno Fresno, CA
06/11/22 Freight And Salvage Berkeley, CA
06/12/22 Center For The Arts Grass Valley, CA
06/13/22 St. James Episcopal Church Fremont, CA
Press Release by Wendy Brynford-Jones, www.folkmusic.com
