Eric Andersen, one of America’s premier singer-songwriters, puts aside his original material (for the most part) to "sing as freshly as possible the songs I first heard sung in the streets, cafes, and clubs by certain performing songwriters in the 1960s Greenwich Village" on "The Street Was Always There." Andersen presents passionate new versions of classics and forgotten gems written by his ’60s elders, contemporaries, and friends – Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Fred Neil, Tim Hardin, Peter La Farge, Patrick Sky, David Blue, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Paul Siebel. On "The Street Was Always There," Andersen presents the many creative facets on the ’60s Village-based songwriters, spanning the protest and personal approaches to "folk music" and proving the timelessness of both. With vibrant production by multi-instrumentalist Robert Aaron (leader of international hip-hop/rap star Wyclef Jean’s band), Andersen applies his time-seasoned baritone to all-too-relevant anti-war songs – Dylan’s "A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall," Sainte-Marie’s "Universal Soldier," Ochs’s "I Ain’t Marching Anymore" and "White Boots Marching in a Yellow Land" – the latter featuring an explosive rap by guest Wyclef Jean, who also plays electric guitar and bass on the track – as well as two of Fred Neil’s bluesy ballads, a shimmering bossa nova take on Tim Hardin’s "Misty Roses, and an unsettling version of David Blue’s "These 23 Days in September," among others. Andersen also revisits his own "Waves of Freedom" from 1969 and provides the newly-penned title track, a tribute to the Village community of the ’60s and to the endless options for expression and experience provided by the metaphorical "street." Joining Andersen (vocals, electric guitar) and Aaron (bass, guitar, keyboards, melodica, woodwinds) are special guests Wyclef Jean, ex-Lovin’ Spoonful leader and solo artist John Sebastian, fellow ’60s songwriter Patrick Sky, guitarist Pete Kennedy of the roots/pop duo The Kennedys, longtime Woodstock musician (and fellow Village graduate) Happy Traum (acoustic guitar), and a cast of top-flight sidemen. The CD booklet includes numerous historic photographs of the songwriters whose work is brought back to the public ear on this CD.