Billy Bragg and Wilco to Release Expanded Box Set of Woody Guthrie Project Mermaid Avenue

In the late ’90s, Nora Guthrie, daughter of legendary singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie, discovered a large trove of her father’s unpublished lyrics. She then reached out to Billy Bragg to fully realize the incomplete songs. Bragg subsequently brought Wilco into the fold, and together they recorded Mermaid Avenue, which dropped in 1998. In the years since, recordings that didn’t make the original 15-song tracklist have surfaced via a variety of additional volumes and packages. Today, Craft Recordings announced the most complete archive of the collaboration yet, an expanded edition of Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions (out December 11th). Along with the announcement, Craft shared “Aginst Th’ Law (Alternate Version),” which was previously unreleased.

Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions catalogs the three original volumes as well as bonus material like alternate versions, live cuts, and demos. The new edition also includes 16 previously unreleased recordings. Come December 11th, the deluxe package will be available both digitally and in two physical formats: a 7xLP + 7-inch box set and a 4xCD box set. Both sets are available for pre-order now.

Buy Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions

New limited edition pressings of each individual volume will also be available as standalone 2xLPs.

“It’s been over thirty years since Nora first asked me to look at some unpublished lyrics of her father’s,” Bragg said, reflecting on Mermaid Avenue. “I had no idea then that the project that she, I, and Wilco undertook would lead to a complete reassessment of the legacy of Woody Guthrie.”

The available single, “Against Th’ Law (Alternate Version)” is (as you might have a guessed) an alternate cut of the Mermaid Avenue Vol. II tune. It’s a lively, folky jaunt with fun guitar licks, hotly-mixed percussion, and expectedly anti-establishment lyrics. The previously released “California Stars” accompanies the new song. Stream “Against Th’ Law (Alternate Version)” below.

Wilco are coming off of their 2026 US Summer Tour, which wrapped last month, and are now looking ahead to Winterlude, their mini-fest in Chicago that just added two additional dates. Get tickets here.

In the spirit of Guthrie, revisit Bragg’s guest editorial for Consequence from earlier this year, which touches on the rise of modern-day resistance and what protest songs can accomplish.

Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions Artwork:

Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions Tracklist:

Disc 1 – Mermaid Avenue
01. Walt Whitman’s Niece
02. California Stars
03. Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key
04. Birds and Ships
05. Hoodoo Voodoo
06. She Came Along to Me
07. At My Window Sad and Lonely
08. Ingrid Bergman
09. Christ for President
10. I Guess I Planted
11. One by One
12. Eisler on the Go
13. Hesitating Beauty
14. Another Man’s Done Gone
15. The Unwelcome Guest

Disc 2 – Mermaid Avenue Vol. II
01. Airline to Heaven
02. My Flying Saucer
03. Feed of Man
04. Hot Rod Hotel
05. I Was Born
06. Secret of the Sea
07. Stetson Kennedy
08. Remember the Mountain Bed
09. Blood of the Lamb
10. Aginst Th’ Law
11. All You Fascists
12. Joe DiMaggio Done It Again
13. Meanest Man
14. Black Wind Blowing
15. Someday Some Morning Sometime

Disc 3 – Mermaid Avenue Vol. III
01. Bugeye Jim
02. When the Roses Bloom Again
03. Gotta Work
04. My Thirty Thousand
05. Ought to Be Satisfied Now
06. Listening to the Wind That Blows
07. Go Down to the Water
08. Chain of Broken Hearts
09. Jailcell Blues
10. Don’t You Marry
11. Give Me a Nail
12. The Jolly Banker
13. Union Prayer
14. Be Kind to the Boy on the Road
15. Ain’ta Gonna Grieve
16. Tea Bag Blues
17. I’m Out to Get

Disc 4 – Alternates & Demos
01. California Stars (Live)
02. Aginst Th’ Law (Alternate Version)*
03. All You Fascists (Alternate Version)*
04. I Guess I Planted (Alternate Version)*
05. She Came Along To Me (Alternate Version)*
06. Hesitating Beauty (Solo Version)*
07. Joe DiMaggio Done It Again (Demo)*
08. Psalm (Demo)*
09. Hot Rod Hotel (Demo)*
10. Christ For President (Solo Version)*
11. Give Me A Nail (Demo)*
12. Long & Hard (Demo)*
13. I Was Born (Demo)*
14. At My Window Sad And Lonely (Solo Version)
15. Birds And Ships (Demo)*
16. The Unwelcome Guest (Demo)*
17. Airline To Heaven (Solo Version)*
18. Hesitating Beauty (Woody’s Home Tape)*

*Previously unreleased