Smithsonian Folkways remembers folk singer and activist Larry Penn, who passed away Tuesday, Oct 7, 2014 at the age of 87. During the 1980s, Penn recorded four albums for Collector Records, now part of the Smithsonian Folkways collection. Penn, a self-taught …

The IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) has announced this year’s inductees for their 25th annual International Bluegrass Music Awards. Founded in 1991, the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, housed in the International Bluegrass …

In celebration of Yemen’s Liberation Day on October 14, The Yemenite Jews is one of this week’s UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music releases.The other release is Oman: Traditional Arts of the Sultanate of Oman, which reflects the bordering …

Smithsonian Folkways remembers actress Marian Seldes (1928 – 2014), who passed away Monday, Oct 7, 2014. Seldes recorded five albums for Folkways Records as a part of the Poet’s Theatre Series. Born in Manhattan in 1928, her father was author …

Smithsonian Folkways remembers award-winning mariachi band leader and teacher Natividad “Nati” Cano (1933 – 2014). Read Folkways Director Daniel Sheehy’s tribute to his longtime friend and founder of Mariachi Los Camperos.

Smithsonian Folkways received two Independent Music Vox Populi (“voice of the people”) Awards, as selected by music fans worldwide:

Best World Traditional Album: Various Artists - Delicious Peace: Coffee, Music & Interfaith Harmony in Uganda. …

Songs of the Spanish Civil War is now available on CD and digital formats. The album is a historically vital collection of songs from the 1930s that reintroduces the hymnal of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, more than 2,600 American volunteers who fought General …

This week’s release celebrates Portugal’s Republic Day on October 5 with fado music in Portugal: Portuguese Traditional Music. The other recording reissued this week, Ukraine: Traditional Music, documents 34 folk songs originally released in 1991 …