Article Contributed by Girlie Action Media
Published on 2026-10-23
Today, klezmer band The Klezmatics released an expanded 20th anniversary edition of their GRAMMY Award-winning album Wonder Wheel. Two decades after Wonder Wheel and forty years into The Klezmatics’ journey, Woody Guthrie’s words remain anything but archival. Wonder Wheel is still a living conversation between past and present, songs from another era continually finding new meaning in the world we inhabit now.
Of the album, Nora Guthrie (Woody’s daughter) says, “Who else but The Klezmatics could turn Woody Guthrie lyrics into such joyful, playful, soulful, passionate and yes, even danceable masterworks! I'm so proud of their dedication to the cause, revealing this surprising part of Woody's life. ‘Wonder Wheel’ is a wonderful adventure for people of all faiths.”
The new 20th Anniversary Edition expands the original 12-track album to 19 tracks, opening The Klezmatics’ archives with seven additional recordings, including previously unreleased material and alternate and live versions. For the first time, Wonder Wheel will also be released on vinyl as an expanded 2LP gatefold edition, preserving Steve Keene’s distinctive original artwork while adding archival lyrics, imagery and material documenting the album and The Klezmatics’ twenty-year journey with these songs.
Earlier this month, The Klezmatics shared the single “Lolly Lo (Demo).” A distinctly klezmer and joyful track, the single is a rare demo from the band’s years-long collaboration with Nora and the Woody Guthrie Archive.
The band has multiple live dates later this year, including two nights at The Freight in Berkeley, CA around the new year. They’re also announcing a dedicated Wonder Wheel anniversary concert at Sony Hall on March 24, 2027, featuring original album collaborators Susan McKeown and Boo Reiners. Tickets and more info available here.
Last month, the band celebrated their 40th anniversary with a sold-out show at Symphony Space on September 24, featuring performances with Janis Ian, Emma's Revolution, and Susan McKeown.
Order: Wonder Wheel: 20th Anniversary Edition
The album celebrates one of the band’s defining collaborations with Woody Guthrie. Seven years in the making when it first appeared in 2006, Wonder Wheel brought previously unrecorded Guthrie lyrics into the 21st century. Rather than recreate the sound of Guthrie’s America, The Klezmatics gave his words a musical life of their own, drawing on Eastern European and klezmer traditions alongside folk, Latin, Celtic and Afro-Caribbean influences.
The anniversary arrives during another major creative chapter for The Klezmatics. In 2026, as the band celebrated its 40th anniversary, they released We Were Made for These Times, a new collection of songs of protest, resilience and radical joy. Twenty years separate the two albums, but the connection is unmistakable: a belief that songs are not artifacts, but living things—capable of crossing generations, cultures and borders and finding new meaning in moments of political and social change. The album has been submitted for consideration for the 2027 GRAMMY Awards.
Tour Dates
October 24 — Madison, WI — Klez Fest Midwest
November 5 — Dresden, Germany — Societaetstheater
November 6 — Plauen, Germany — Malzhaus
November 7 — Wien, Austria — Stadtsaal
November 8 — Bratislava, Slovakia — Slovak Radio Concert Hall
November 9 — Budapest, Hungary — Müpa Budapest
November 11 — Opava, Czechia — kostel sv. Václava
November 12 — Wrocław, Poland — Stary Klasztor
November 14 — Hlavní město Praha, Czechia — Spanish Synagogue
November 15 — Nogent-sur-Marne, France — La Scène Watteau
December 2 — Phoenix, AZ — Musical Instrument Museum
December 3 — San Diego, CA — Price Center West
December 5 — Mercer Island, WA — Stroum Jewish Center
December 13 — Union, NJ — Enlow Recital Hall (with La Manga)
December 29 — Berkeley, CA — The Freight
December 30 — Berkeley, CA — The Freight
March 6 — San Francisco, CA — SF JAZZ Center
March 7 — Irvine, CA — Irvine Barclay Theatre
March 24 — New York, NY — Sony Hall (with Susan McKeown)
