Hearing this first as a stream, I wondered whether the idea of recording 13 American roots classics with railway associations while traversing the US by train might make a better documentary than CD.

But listen closely to Bragg and Henry’s soulful delivery, often against the distant hum of the rails, and it become clear there is something special afoot here: two voices, two guitars and a sense of mission. Then check out the wonderful sleeve booklet packed with information about the songs, context and history. “In the codified language of song, we recognise our narrative and identity anew; find the past alive and still sparking the machinery of our present day existence.”

This is a project imbued with affection for the likes of Woody Guthrie and Lead Belly, who originally sang these songs. It is also a warm tribute to the locomotive era and that fast disappearing world.shinealight-joehenry,billybragg.co.uk