Smithsonian Folkways is proud to announce the release of The Village Out West: The Lost Tapes of Alan Oakes, out September 24. This expansive new collection of music challenges the historical preconception that New York’s Greenwich Village was the sole epicenter of folk music in the 1960s, and brings to life the nearly forgotten but equally vibrant contemporaneous scene emerging in Northern and Central California.
 

MERRY RUN AROUND - the new live album from South Carolina’s George Fetner and the Strays - was released on August 6, 2021. 

The inaugural Days Between Festival, celebrating the legacy of late-Grateful Dead patriarch Jerry Garcia and the musical score he left embedded in our soul, was upbeat and a resounding success in northern Mendocino County, California on August 6 and 7, even amidst the rage of north-state wildfires and Covid-19 pandemic 2.0. Proof of vaccination or a negative, very-recent Covid test were required for entry.

For the health and safety of all at Dead & Company concerts, ticket holders must provide proof of full vaccination or negative COVID-19 diagnostic test within 48-hours prior to entry, except where prohibited by law.

For roots rock artist Taylor Scott, 2020 was a year of reckoning. After coming to terms with the death of a family member, weathering personal storms, and having his career put on what seemed to be an indefinite pause, he realized the only option was to shift his perspective. In the midst of the year’s ubiquitous pain and uncertainty, Scott used the time to reflect and regroup.  At first, it seemed like inspiration just wouldn’t come.