FOLK LEGENDS
AND DEAR FRIENDS
‘ARE TOGETHER AGAIN’
JOHN McCUTCHEON AND TOM PAXTON
JOIN FORCES FOR THEIR SECOND DUO ALBUM
OUT JANUARY 9, 2026
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.
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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. 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.
“Listening to Together Again is like opening your favorite book — each song a new chapter, each track an incredible story that lingers long after the final note."
5 STARS!
By Music Journalist Ray Shasho
JOHN McCUTCHEON ON TOUR
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
FOR MORE INFORMATION
ABOUT
TOM PAXTON
VISIT
Official website
https://www.facebook.com/TomPaxtonMusic
Facebook
https://tompaxton.bandcamp.com/
Bandcamp
https://tompaxton.bandcamp.com/
Apple
FOR MORE INFORMATION
ABOUT
JOHN McCUTCHEON
VISIT
Official website
https://www.facebook.com/people/John-McCutcheon/100063915871608/
Facebook
Twitter
Tom Paxton
Discography
I'm the Man That Built the Bridges [live] (Gaslight, 1962)
Ramblin' Boy (Elektra, 1964)
Ain't That News! (Elektra, 1965)
Outward Bound (Elektra, 1966)
Morning Again (Elektra, 1968)
The Things I Notice Now (Elektra, 1969)
Tom Paxton 6 (Elektra, 1970)
The Compleat Tom Paxton [live in June 1970 at the Bitter End nightclub, Greenwich Village, Lower Manhattan, New York City] (Elektra, 1971)
How Come the Sun (Reprise, 1971)
Peace Will Come (Reprise, 1972)
New Songs for Old Friends [live] (Reprise, 1973)
Children's Song Book (Bradleys, 1974) (reissued in the U.S. ten years later under the title The Marvelous Toy and Other Gallimaufry (Cherry Lane / Flying Fish, 1984))
Something in My Life (Private Stock, 1975)
Saturday Night (MAM, 1976)
New Songs from the Briarpatch [live] (Vanguard, 1977)
Heroes (Vanguard, 1978)
Up and Up (Mountain Railroad, 1979)
The Paxton Report (Mountain Railroad, 1980)
Bulletin (Hogeye, 1983)
Even a Gray Day (Flying Fish, 1983)
Tom Paxton in the Orchard (Cherry Lane Records, 1984)
One Million Lawyers and Other Disasters (Flying Fish, 1985)
A Paxton Primer (Pax, 1986)
Folksong Festival 1986 (Pax, 1986)
And Loving You (Flying Fish, 1986)
Balloon-alloon-alloon (Sony Kids' Music, 1987)
Politics Live [live] (Flying Fish, 1988)
The Very Best of Tom Paxton (Flying Fish, 1988)
In The Orchard [live] (Sundown Records, 1988)
Storyteller (Start Records Ltd, 1989)
It Ain't Easy (Flying Fish, 1991)
A Child's Christmas (Sony Kids' Music, 1992)
Peanut Butter Pie (Sony Kids' Music, 1992)
Suzy Is a Rocker (Sony Kids' Music, 1992)
Wearing the Time (Sugar Hill, 1994)
Live: For the Record [live] (Sugar Hill, 1996)
A Child's Christmas/Marvelous Toy and Other Gallimaufry (Delta, 1996)
A Car Full of Songs (Sony Kids' Music, 1997)
Goin' to the Zoo (Rounder, 1997)
I've Got a Yo-Yo (Rounder, 1997)
The Best of Tom Paxton (Hallmark, 1997)
Live in Concert [live] (Strange Fruit, 1998)
Fun Animal Songs (Delta, 1999)
Fun Food Songs (Delta, 1999)
A Car Full of Fun Songs (Delta, 1999)
I Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound: The Best of Tom Paxton (Rhino, 1999)
Best of the Vanguard Years (Vanguard, 2000)
Stars in Their Eyes (Cub Creek Records, 2000), duet with Mark Elliott
Live From Mountain Stage [live] (Blue Plate, 2001)
Under American Skies (Appleseed and Koch International, 2001)
Ramblin' Boy/Ain't That News! (Warner Strategic Marketing, 2002)
Your Shoes, My Shoes (Red House, 2002)
Looking for the Moon (Appleseed, 2002)
American Troubadour (Music Club, 2003)
Best of Friends [live on February 16, 1985, at Holsteins folk club, Chicago, Illinois] (Appleseed Recordings, 2004) (originally taped for broadcast by WFMT's The Midnight Special radio show by its host, Rich Warren)
The Compleat Tom Paxton (Even Compleater) [live] (Rhino Handmade, 2004)
Outward Bound/Morning Again (Wea/Rhino, 2004)
Live in the UK [live] (Pax, 2005)
Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop [live] (Shout Factory, 2006)
Comedians and Angels (Appleseed, 2008)
Redemption Road (Pax Records, 2015)
Boat in the Water (Pax Records, 2017)
Live at Portland, Oregon, November 7, 2017 (2018) with The Don Juans
The Essential (Apple Music, 2019)
Live! (Bandcamp, 2019) with The Don Juans
Rabbit (Misra, 2022) with Buffalo Rose
Together (Appalseed Productions, 2023) with John McCutcheon
Together Again with John McCutcheon 2026
Music books
Ramblin' Boy and Other Songs by Tom Paxton (music book) (Oak Publications, 1965)
Tom Paxton Anthology (music book) (United Artists Music Co., 1971)
Tom Paxton Folio of Songs (music book) (United Artists Music Co., 1972)
Tom Paxton Easy Guitar (music book) (United Artists Music Co., 1975)
Politics (music book) (Cherry Lane Music, 1989)
I Can Read Now (sheet music) (Pax Records / Cherry Lane Music, 1989)
The Authentic Guitar Style of Tom Paxton (music book) (Cherry Lane Music, 1989)
Tom Paxton's Children's Songbook (music book) (Cherry Lane Music, 1990)
A Car Full of Songs (music Book) (Cherry Lane Music, 1991)
Wearing the Time (music book) (Cherry Lane Music, 1994)
Ramblin' Boy and Other Songs (Music Sales Corporation, 1997)
The Honor of Your Company (music book) (Cherry Lane Music, 2000)
Non-music books
Aesop's Fables (William Morrow & Co, 1988)
Belling the Cat and Other Aesop's Fables (William Morrow & Co, 1990)
Engelbert the Elephant (William Morrow & Co, 1990)
Androcles and the Lion: And Other Aesop's Fables (William Morrow & Co, 1991)
Birds of a Feather and Other Aesop's Fables (William Morrow & Co, 1993)
The Animals' Lullaby (Let Me Read, Level 3) (William Morrow & Co, 1993)
Where's the Baby? (HarperCollins, 1993)
Engelbert Moves the House (Let Me Read, Level 3) (Good Year Books, 1995)
The Story of Santa Claus (HarperCollins, 1995)
The Story of the Tooth Fairy (William Morrow & Company, 1996)
Going to the Zoo (William Morrow & Company, 1996)
Meet Tom Paxton – An Interview With Tom Paxton: Level 3 Reader (Good Year Books, 1996)
Engelbert Joins the Circus (HarperCollins, 1997)
The Jungle Baseball Game (Morrow Junior, 1999)
Jennifer's Rabbit (HarperCollins, 2001)
John McCutcheon
Discography
How Can I Keep from Singing? (June Appal Recordings, 1975)
Brown Lung Cotton Mills Blues (June Appal Recordings, 1975) (As part of group The Mountain Musicians’ Cooperative)
The Wind That Shakes the Barley (June Appal Recordings, 1977; reissued Rounder, 2000)*
From Earth To Heaven (June Appal Recordings, 1978) (As part of group Wry Straw)
Barefoot Boy with Boots On (Front Hall, 1981; reissued Rounder, 1998)
Fine Times at Our House (Greenhays, 1982; reissued Rounder, 2010)
Howjadoo (Rounder, 1983)
Winter Solstice (Rounder, 1984, with Trapezoid and Washington Bach Consort)
Signs of the Times (Rounder, 1986, with Si Kahn)
Step By Step: Hammer Dulcimer Duets, Trios and Quartets (Rounder, 1986)
Gonna Rise Again (Rounder, 1987)
Mail Myself to You (Rounder, 1988)
Water from Another Time: A Retrospective (Rounder, 1989)
What It's Like (Rounder, 1990)
Live at Wolf Trap (Rounder, 1991)
Family Garden (Rounder, 1993)
Between the Eclipse (Rounder, 1995)
Summersongs (series: John McCutcheon's Four Seasons) (Rounder, 1995)
Wintersongs (series: John McCutcheon's Four Seasons) (Rounder, 1995)
Nothing to Lose (Rounder, 1995)
Sprout Wings and Fly (Rounder, 1997)
Bigger Than Yourself (Rounder, 1997, co-written by Si Kahn)
Doing Our Job (Rounder, 1997, with Tom Chapin)
Autumnsongs (series: John McCutcheon's Four Seasons) (Rounder, 1998, family album)
Springsongs (series: John McCutcheon's Four Seasons) (Rounder, 1999, family album)
Storied Ground (Rounder, 1999)
Supper's on the Table (Rounder, 2001, retrospective)
The Greatest Story Never Told (Red House Records, 2002)
Hail to the Chief (self-published, 2003)
Hammer Dulcimer Repertoire (Homespun Tapes, 2003; CD and book)
Stand Up! Broadsides for Our Time (self-published, 2004; reissue 2010)
Welcome the Traveler Home: The Winfield Songs (self-published, 2004; reissue 2010)
Mightier Than the Sword (Appalsongs, 2005)
This Fire (Appalsongs, 2007)
The Hammer Dulcimer (Hal Leonard, 2007; 6 CDs and booklet)
Sermon on the Mound (Appalsongs, 2008)
Untold (Appalsongs, 2009)
Passage (Appalsongs, 2010)
This Land: Woody Guthrie's America (Appalsongs, 2011)
22 Days (Appalsongs, 2013)
Joe Hill's Last Will (Appalsongs, 2015)
Trolling for Dreams (Appalsongs, 2017)
Ghost Light (Appalsongs, 2018)
To Everyone in All the World: A Celebration of Pete Seeger (Appalsongs, 2019)
Cabin Fever: Songs from the Quarantine (Appalsongs, 2020)
Bucket List (Appalsongs, 2021)
Leap! (Appalseed Productions, 2022)
Together (Appalseed Productions, 2023, with Tom Paxton)
Field of Stars (Appalseed Productions, 2025)
Together Again with Tom Paxton 2026
Books
Happy Adoption Day (1996)
Christmas in the Trenches (2006, book with CD)
Flowers for Sarajevo (2017)
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