NOW AVAILABLE: We are proud to introduce a membership program that opens up new ways to engage with the label’s vast body of recorded music and sounds, its history, and the people involved along the way. Plus it makes a perfect gift for the music lover in your life (or to yourself)!
Access includes free digital downloads, exclusive album cover art prints, discounts, event invitations, and more!
Listen to “Nieve que Cortas mi pies” from the album “Paso A Paso: Step By Step: Poetry and Prose for Children.”
Place your pre-order for one of our first releases of 2017, Roll Columbia: Woody Guthrie’s 26 Northwest Songs. It is a trove of new discoveries and a celebration of Guthrie’s genius, and lasting contributions to both the history and musical traditions of the Pacific Northwest.
In this album, Peggy Seeger sings about gender equality. Listen to the title track “Different Therefore Equal.”
Our new bilingual lesson plan promotes healthy eating and language diversity using the GRAMMY-nominated album ¡Come Bien! Eat Right! by José-Luis Orozco. José-Luis Orozco
“Ronald Clyne, who designed an estimated 500 covers for Folkways Records, contributed to the distinctive “otherness” of its recordings.” Read more about Folkways album cover designer, Ronald Clyne, in this Folkways Magazine article.
Watch Grammy-winning conjunto artists Flaco Jiménez and Max Baca perform “Margarita, Margarita” from the Folkways album “Legends & Legacies.”
In this lesson, students will learn about two ancient traditional instruments, Egyptian scales and rhythms, and even Egyptian Shadow Puppet Theatre.
Calypso singer Lord Invader was born on this day in 1914 in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. Learn more about Lord Invader in this Artist Spotlight article.
Lead Belly sings for children on the cover of this iconic 1940s album, which won the Early Childhood News Director’s Choice Award in 1999. Read about how this album influenced GRAMMY-nominated artist Dan Zanes in the new “education” issue of Smithsonian Folkways Magazine.
To celebrate our 30th anniversary in 2017, we are introducing the Smithsonian Folkways Membership program. Become a part of our extended community and receive exclusive benefits. More information is available here:
Ana Veydó, who sings with Grupo Cimarrón, is one of the few women who perform Colombian joropo music. What is unique about Veydó’s style of singing? Find the answer in this Folkways Artist Spotlight article:
Listen to poet Pedro Pietri recite “Telephone Booth 905 ½.”
Today is Human Rights Day. This year, Human Rights Day calls on everyone to stand up for someone’s rights. “There is power in unity and there is power in numbers.” –Martin Luther King Jr., 1963
