The project brings together Elvis Costello, Mumford and Sons' Marcus Mumford, Dawes' Taylor Goldsmith, Carolina Chocolate Drops' Rhiannon Giddens and producer T Bone Burnett, who together created music for two dozen lyrics that had previously been unreleased.

The lyrics were written by Dylan in 1967 after his motorcycle accident when he retreated to Big Pink and worked non-stop on music with five musicians known then as the Hawks, who later became the Band.