Anders Parker (Varnaline) sat down to answer some questions about New Multitudes. 

Anders Parker: How did you first discover Woody Guthrie?

New Multitudes is an intimate interpretation of American icon and musical legend Woody Guthrie’s previously unrecorded lyrics from a dream team of Americana torchbearers: Jay Farrar (Son Volt), Will Johnson (Centro-matic), Anders Parker (Varnaline), and Yim Yames (My Morning Jacket). 

Old L.A.

Jay Farrar (Son Volt) answers the question "How Did You First Discover Woody Guthrie?"

Jay Farrar: How did you first discover Woody Guthrie?

Will Johnson (centro-matic) answers the question "How did you first discover Woody Guthrie"

Will Johnson: How did you first discover Woody Guthrie?

Jay Farrar (Son Volt) answers the question "What was the inspiration behind New Multitudes"

Jay Farrar: What was the inspiration behind this project?

Ruminations on New Multitudes:
Will Johnson answers the question "What was the inspiration behind this project?"

Will Johnson: Where would you put Woody Guthrie on the list of artists who influenced you?

Yim Yames answers the question: How did the song for Talking Empty Bed Blues come about?

Yim Yames: How did the song for Talking Empty Bed Blues come about?

Jay Farrar (Son Volt) answers the question "What was the process behind matching each artist to the [unreleased] Woody Guthrie lyrics?"

Jay Farrar: What was the process behind matching each artist to the lyrics?

Anders Parker (Varnaline) answers the question "Did you write the music to accompany the lyrics or to fit the lyrics?"

Anders Parker: Did you write the music to accompany the lyrics or to fit the lyrics?

Will Johnson of Centro-matic answers the question "How did you get involved in this project and decide what to work on?"

Will Johnson: How did you get involved in this project &amp; decide what to work on?

New Multitudes is an intimate interpretation of American icon and musical legend Woody Guthrie’s previously unrecorded lyrics from a dream team of Americana torchbearers: Jay Farrar (Son Volt), Will Johnson (Centro-matic), Anders Parker (Varnaline), and Yim Yames (My Morning Jacket). What makes this album such a rarity in today’s music world is the allowance of the songs’ infectious simplicity to stand alone in all their glory. In doing so, Farrar, Johnson, Parker, and Yames have paid the greatest compliment to Woody Guthrie and the collaborative spirit he so greatly embodied. This is an album which seamlessly converges the sepia-toned essence of the time honored past with the risks needed to forge the future.