I chose these songs because they remind me that there are no rules to making music. Each one is new to me, discovered sliding through the Smithsonian Folkways archives. I’d never heard them before this, and I love them all for their spirit, their composition and their bravery. To me, it feels like so much heart is in each tune. From Barton Smith—exploring the boundaries of multi tracking on a reel-to-reel—to how out of tune Lightnin’ Hopkins’ guitar is, to the feeling of sorrow I feel from Bertram Turetzky’s “Baku.” The fun thing about playlists is you can put artists in a room who may never have known each other, from time and space that are far apart. I really like thinking about the playlist as a room these people passed through. I hope you feel curious enough to listen.

Listen on Pandora here