People's Picks

“People's Picks” is a new monthly playlist series curated by musicians and other prominent friends of Folkways. Guest curators delve into our collection of recordings “of, by, and for the people” and create a personal take on what the music means to them.

• A Polyrhythmic Tour with Wild Belle’s Elliot Bergman
  by Elliot Bergman
  06/28/2015
  

  Whether in the sparse reggae-influenced beats of sibling-duo Wild Belle or in the expansive horns of “post-afrobeat” band NOMO, Elliot Bergman...

• Sounds of California
  by Betto Arcos
  05/16/2015
  

  California is a land of musical riches. After all, the so-called Golden State has been a destination for immigrants from all over the world...

• World-Expanding Sounds with Sylvan Esso
  by Sylvan Esso
  01/21/2015
  

  Indie pop duo Sylvan Esso has garnered both critical and popular acclaim for their expert pairing of gentle folk vocals with textured electronic production...

• Behind Bonnie "Prince" Billy - The Roots of Will Oldham
  by Will Oldham
  12/15/2015
  

  Will Oldham’s career has never strayed far from American folk mythology. Long before he was known as the offbeat troubadour of Palace Brothers, Palace Songs, Palace Music, and Bonnie “Prince” Billy fame...

• Singing Soul Food
  by The Southern Foodways Alliance
  11/04/2015
  

  The Southern Foodways Alliance documents, studies, and celebrates the diverse food cultures of the changing American South. We are a member-supported nonprofit institution of the Center...

• The Black Twig Pickers’ Picks
  by The Black Twig Pickers
  10/01/2015
  

  The Black Twig Pickers are an emergent Appalachian old-time string band from Virginia and North Carolina who draw inspiration from both traditional and experimental sources...

• Zooglobble Approved Folkways Songs for Kids
  by Stefan Shepherd
  09/11/2015
  

  Stefan Shepherd of Zooglobble knows good kids’ music when he hears it. He’s been writing about “music you and your family can sing, dance, and groove to” on his acclaimed site Zooglobble...

• Warren Defever’s World of Sound
  by Warren Defever
  08/07/2015
  

  Detroit-based musician and producer Warren Defever’s music and engineering work has intersected with Smithsonian Folkways since he first heard recordings of Woody Guthrie as a child...

• A Southern Songs Playlist
  by Valerie June
  07/10/2015
  

  Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Valerie June grew up in Tennessee, between the small towns of Humboldt and Jackson, moving to Memphis after finishing high school...

• An Introduction to A Dissident Gardens Audio Companion
  by Jonathan Lethem
  06/16/2015
  

  Writer Jonathan Lethem's books almost always offer a lesson in the pop culture of their place and time, even while his characters can straddle the line between parody and dead-on representation...

• Selections from BRI's Virginia Traditions Series
  by Daniel Bachman
  05/26/2015
  

  The nine albums in the Virginia Traditions series (recently acquired from the Blue Ridge Institute) feature indelible recordings of the state’s traditional music spanning the 1920s through the 1980s...