Dave Van Ronk - Ballads, Blues & a Spiritual - Dubbed "The Mayor of MacDougal Street," Dave Van Ronk (1936-2002) was an iconoclastic folksinger and an influential figure in the American folk music... more

Barbara forged her own path, singing for peace and justice and refusing to recognize music-biz boundaries between folk, jazz and blues. The 40-page booklet and 150 minutes of music here take us... more

Songs of Our Native Daughters gathers together kindred musicians Rhiannon Giddens, Amythyst Kiah, Leyla McCalla, and Allison Russell in song and sisterhood to communicate with their forebears.... more

A mentor to everyone from Bob Dylan to Suzanne Vega, "The Mayor of MacDougal Street" was a treasured figure in the Greenwich Village scene for four decades. His autobiography and its portrait of the... more

Our second recording of Gordon, this contains many of his powerful original songs of the sea and of the fishermen among whom he grew up. Mister Eneos, Mrs. MacDonald's Lament, Peter Kagan and the... more

Jim came to sing at our place in Sharon some years back, along with a bunch of Californians called the Portable Folk Festival. We immediately invited him to come back and make this recording. When he... more

Over 50 years after its original 1952 vinyl release, this is still the best American roots music collection around! Musicologist Harry Smith assembled the anthology from 78 rpm discs issued between... more

Doc Watson and Gaither Carlton is a new album of old-time music produced from archival recordings by two legendary musicians. These largely unheard tapes were recorded at Doc Watson's two earliest... more

Woody recorded for a variety of labels, but the real meat of his repertoire rests in the 300 or so songs he recorded for Mo Asch's Folkways label. And now that classic material is finally coming out... more

Vinyl LP pressing. This recording, first released by Folkways founder Moses Asch in 1976 to coincide with the celebration of America's Bicentennial, was originally recorded by Asch in the 1940s. The... more

The singer/activist teamed with up-and-coming quartet the Chambers Brothers in 1966 to record this soul-stirring blend of gospel, folk-rock and blues. The singing is sublime across the board, and the... more

Happy Woman Blues - Lucinda Williams, whose musical style defies easy categorization, recorded her first album of original songs in 1980, supported by a six-member band. Her songs are a mix of... more

Malvina Reynolds, the well-known songwriter and activist for social justice and the environment, performs some of her most famous songs in the compilation of studio and live recordings fro mthe 1960s... more

Leyla McCalla's Vari-Colored Songs is a celebration of the complexity of Black culture and identity, and a tribute to the legacy of poet and thinker Langston Hughes. A songwriter and... more

The Youngbloods and Holy Modal Rounders covered songs from this 1964 Folkways LP, the debut by this Pennsylvania-born singer-songwriter (whose unconventional singing and songs made him a hero in '60s... more

Who could chronicle the history of this great American art form—the train song—better than Smithsonian Folkways? A 36-page booklet rides along with Jay Gould's Daughter Pete Seeger; Wabash Cannonball... more

The first, and certainly the most prominent of the old timey revival bands! This outstanding collection includes 26 cuts from 12 albums by the original band, which included Mike Seeger, John Cohen... more

He might have set out just to be a folk singer, but Seeger emerged as a beloved rebel, a voice of the people, one that would endure and only rise in stature decade after decade. This new... more

Easy Rider - Leadbelly songs - Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is proud to present 'Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection' - the first in-depth, career-spanning box set of songs, photos,... more

Vinyl LP pressing. Named a National Heritage Fellow in 2010 and elected to the International Bluegrass Music Hall of fame in 2011, Delano Floyd "Del" McCoury has been a presence in bluegrass music... more