Smithsonian Folkways has always seemed to me the ultimate American record label, though the term “record label” feels reductive in this case. In contrast to the typical models of more commercial enterprises, Folkways contains a staggering curation documenting our history in recorded sound and music. Not just American history: the multi-generational library is an incredibly deep, well-traveled, and multicultural archive of humanity around the world.

While looking through the back catalog of this esteemed institution, I found myself in awe of many recordings I didn’t even realize were represented, from powerful Irish resistance songs to haunting Palestinian spirituals. An intrepid listener could spend years exploring and studying the Folkways collection, but I felt for the sake of cohesion that I ought to generally limit this playlist to records which are most familiar to me. These are ephemeral treasures, to which we are very fortunate to have enduring access. I am grateful that Folkways exists as an interactive window into our rich creative past, while holding space for our present as well. It is as anthropologically essential as it is exciting and inspiring.

For this playlist I have tended to stick with the American side of the folk music canon, from traditional old-time fiddle and bluegrass to blues pickers and songwriters. Some labor, race, and class-based protest songs, such as Woody Guthrie’s “Ludlow Massacre” and Leadbelly’s “Bourgeois Blues” are disarmingly relevant today. Others, such as Michael Hurley’s “Tea Song,” are simply beautiful examples of levity in non-commercial original songwriting. All are precious pieces of our collective history.