Grammy-nominated folk musician John McCutcheon has announced a performance at Old Songs in Voorheesville, NY at 7:30 p.m. on October 22. The show will feature the musician playing hammered dulcimer, banjo, piano, harmonica, guitar and more.
McCutcheon began his songwriting career at 15-years-old when he wrote his first award-winning tune “The Ponderosa No-Cream-in-My-Coffee Blues.” The song took away the title of his high school talent show.
Since then, McCutcheon has written hundreds of songs and produced over 20 albums. He has received seven Grammy nominations for his recordings.
McCutcheon has collaborated with many other folk artists over the years; Si Kahn, Holly Near, Steve Seskin, Tom Chapin and most recently, Tom Paxton.
McCutcheon and Paxton began collaborating in August 2021, when many Covid restrictions were still in place. The two decided to meet over Zoom on Mondays at 2 p.m. to connect and write songs together. Four years later, the longtime friends are still meeting for what has become their weekly sessions.
These sessions produced nearly 200 hundred songs, enough for “ten more albums,” according to McCutcheon. Their first collaborative album, Together, was released in 2023 and featured fourteen tracks from their early sessions. The album topped the folk charts.
In 2026, McCutcheon and Paxton released another fourteen song album Together Again. The album includes works like “The Future,” inspired by McCutcheon’s many performances at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas which has launched many folk and bluegrass careers. The song represents a passing of the torch for the two veterans. Other songs like “Old Dog” and “Artie’s Last Stand” touch on themes of reflection and remembrance and “Pathfinder” is a tribute to friend and mentor Pete Seeger.
While the two played shows together following their 2023 album, Paxton, 88, has retired from the road. McCutcheon, 73, will continue to visit venues like Old Songs.
Old Songs is a not-for-profit organization with the mission of keeping traditional music and dance alive through festivals, concerts, dances and educational programs. Under the tour date on his website, McCutcheon wrote “love this intimate venue.”
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