Folk-rock fans and music history enthusiasts received groundbreaking news this week as Wilco and Billy Bragg announced plans to reunite for a landmark performance of their acclaimed “Mermaid Avenue” collaboration. The historic concert, scheduled for June 26, 2026, will take place at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts, as the opening night highlight of Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival.
The “Mermaid Avenue” project began in 1998 when Nora Guthrie, daughter of legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie, approached Billy Bragg with a remarkable opportunity. She offered access to over 1,000 sets of unpublished lyrics discovered after her father’s death in 1967, inviting Bragg to set these words to contemporary music.
Woody Guthrie’s unpublished legacy found voice when his daughter invited Billy Bragg to set hidden lyrics to modern music.
Bragg subsequently invited Wilco to join the collaboration, resulting in three critically acclaimed albums: “Mermaid Avenue” (1998), “Mermaid Avenue Vol. II” (2000), and a third volume released in 2012.
Despite the project’s significant cultural impact, introducing Guthrie’s unpublished work to new audiences through folk-rock arrangements, Bragg and Wilco rarely performed the material together after the albums’ release. Most performances occurred in separate sets, with songs becoming staples in each artist’s individual repertoire, but never as a full collaborative concert.
“The world needs all the Woody Guthrie it can get,” remarked Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy, expressing enthusiasm for the reunion. Bragg echoed this sentiment, noting, “There’s an abiding love out there for the ‘Mermaid Avenue’ albums.”
The 2026 performance marks nearly three decades since the original album’s release, bridging generational and stylistic gaps between traditional folk and contemporary rock. The one-night-only event is billed as a communal celebration of Guthrie’s songwriting and the collaborative spirit that animated the original recordings.
Tickets for the June 26 performance went on sale immediately following the announcement, with additional details about the full Solid Sound Festival lineup forthcoming.
The concert is expected to spark renewed interest in the “Mermaid Avenue” albums and Guthrie’s enduring legacy. Both artists have developed strong personal brands through their distinctive artistic voices, allowing this reunion to resonate with multiple generations of music fans. Both artists stand to gain significant revenue through this collaboration, particularly via merchandise sales which have become increasingly important income streams for musicians in recent years. Wilco fans can anticipate hearing some of their favorite tracks from the collaboration, including popular selections like California Stars and Hoodoo Voodoo that have become highlights in the band’s regular concert repertoire. The announcement follows Wilco’s recent surge in recognition, including their 2022 album “Cruel Country” which was widely praised as their understated Magnum Opus by the New York Times.
