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Oct 14, 2014 By Mike Hilleary The New Basement Tapes

Earlier this year musical artists Elvis Costello, Carolina Chocolate Drops’ Rhiannon Giddens, Dawes Taylor Goldsmith, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, and Mumford & Sons’ Marcus Mumford convened for a new musical project called The New Basement Tapes. Founded following the discovery of handwritten lyrics by Bob Dylan from 1967—the same period that resulted the recording of the legendary songwriter’s original Basement Tapes—the mission for the group of artists was to try and put music to the formerly lost words.

With the help of producer T Bone Burnett, The New Basement Tapes will release their compiled album Lost On the River on Nov. 10. Today the band has shared, “Spanish Mary,” an included track from the LP.

Giddens, who co-wrote “Spanish Mary” with Bob Dylan and sings the lead vocal, says, “Out of all the lyrics I looked through for the New Basement Tapes project, the one for ‘Spanish Mary’ attracted me first—here was a ballad, and I know ballads! It’s also set in the Caribbean, so I felt the deep African sound of the minstrel style banjo (circa 1856) was appropriate. It was an absolute thrill to get to set music to Dylan’s lyrics, what an opportunity! This project is marked with utter generosity from everyone involved.”

Click below to watch a lyric video for the track.

(www.facebook.com/thenewbasementtapes)