Literary inspiration and collaboration distinguish this ambitious project by veteran folksinger John McCutcheon. The album-opening "Our Flag Was Still There" celebrates a progressive brand of patriotism, taking its title from an essay by Barbara Kingsolver, whom McCutcheon invited to contribute lyrics. Among his other collaborators are poet Rita Dove (who even contributes a bit of spoken word to "Claudette Colvin Goes to Work") and novelist Lee Smith (who inspired "Good Ol' Girls" and, with McCutcheon, wrote "Single Girl"). His reading of Sister Helen Prejean's Dead Man Walking inspired a musical interpretation that's like a chain-gang holler, while a couple of musical settings for Woody Guthrie lyrics range from the romantically tender ("Harness Up the Day") to the playful ("Old Cap Moore"). Of the two inspired by Wendell Berry, "It's the Economy, Stupid" finds common spirit between beatnik jazz and modern rap, and "Jaber Crow's Silly Song About Jesus" has piano accompaniment that is as churchy as the lyric