Best National Roots Act

Billy Bragg & Wilco

Woody Guthrie reportedly advised a young Bob Dylan that the words of a song are the important thing: "Don't worry about tunes. Take a tune -- sing high when they sing low, sing fast when they sing slow, and you've got a new tune." Nora Guthrie apparently took those words to heart, opening up an archive of more than 1000 of her father's unrecorded lyrics for British troubadour Billy Bragg, who supplied the music. Bragg was an inspired choice, perhaps closer than any modern songwriter to Guthrie's model of an activist/songwriter whose work entertains, documents, and aspires to address society's ills. Bragg enlisted the help of several others, chiefly Jeff Tweedy and Wilco, who turned in their most countrified performance to date. It became something of a collaboration between the current generation of songwriters and perhaps its greatest practitioner who passed away 32 years ago. The resulting CD, Mermaid Avenue (Elektra), demonstrates what Guthrie (and Dylan) fans have always known: that the folk-song tradition is a living, breathing, and timeless entity. From the rousing opener, "Walt Whitman's Niece," to the sublime "The Unwelcome Guest," these 15 songs are a pleasure throughout. And by our calculation, there's enough material left for 65 more CDs.

-- David Ritchie