The unfinished lyrical canon of American folk singer Woody Guthrie is so vast—it contains over 3000 handwritten lyrics—and universally revered it seems every few years or so someone comes along to interpret it through music of their own. Under the invitation of Guthrie’s daughter Nora, Billy Bragg and Jeff Tweedy produced Mermaid Avenue in 1998, and a similar invitation recently put to Jay Farrar (Son Volt, Uncle Tupelo), Yim Yames (My Morning Jacket), Will Johnson (Centro-matic, South San Gabriel), and Anders Parker (Varnaline, Gob Iron) has brought about New Multitudes, an album commemorating what would have been Guthrie’s 100th birthday. Focusing on his early songwriting years in California, the group breathes new life to Guthrie’s words through a stylistic rendering more faithful than other tributes to Guthrie’s own. For enthusiasts of the folksinging bard and his legacy, this is another captivating installment. With Sarah Jaffe. GWENDOLYN ELLIOTT

Sat., March 10, 8 p.m., 2012