Playlists
Curated sounds from the Folkways collection
Child Ballads
Year: 2024, Tracks: 25, Length: 91:00
People's Picks: Allegra Krieger
Year: 2024, Tracks: 12, Length: 51:23
Staff Jams: Songs for Fall
Year: 2024, Tracks: 69, Length: 270:00
From the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage staff, selected and updated each season. Listen to what we're listening to this fall 🍁🍂
Folkways Goes... Live!
Year: 2024, Tracks: 100, Length: 727:00
People's Picks: Nathan Salsburg
Year: 2024, Tracks: 25, Length: 80:00
People's Picks: Kishi Bashi
Year: 2024, Tracks: 31, Length: 75:00
Ms. Ella Jenkins—“The First Lady of Children’s Music”—Turns 100!
Year: 2024, Tracks: 100, Length: 225:00
People's Picks: Mabe Fratti
Year: 2024, Tracks: 14, Length: 48:54
People's Picks: Wendy Eisenberg
Year: 2024, Tracks: 16
People's Picks: Magic Tuber Stringband
Year: 2024, Tracks: 16
Staff Jams: Spring Fling
Year: 2024, Tracks: 54, Length: 210:00
Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage staff selected and updated every season. Listen to what we're listening this spring 🐛🌷
A Field Guide to... Peru
Year: 2024, Tracks: 23, Length: 71:00
People's Picks: Adia Victoria
Year: 2024, Tracks: 14, Length: 45:38
Charlie Parr's Guitar Influences
Year: 2024, Tracks: 24, Length: 125:00
Dom Flemons Presents: Black Country
Year: 2024, Tracks: 22, Length: 62:00
People's Picks: Cécile McLorin Salvant
Year: 2024, Tracks: 14, Length: 42:35
Folkways Goes... Foodways
Year: 2024, Tracks: 20, Length: 67:00
My Song Is My Weapon: The Long Sonic History of Black Resistance
Year: 2024, Tracks: 55, Length: 193:00
People's Picks: Buffalo Nichols
Year: 2024, Tracks: 23, Length: 72:00
People's Picks: Johanna Samuels
Year: 2024, Tracks: 19, Length: 74:00
Staff Jams: Winter
Year: 2024, Tracks: 59, Length: 225:00
Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage staff selected and updated every season. Listen to what we're listening this winter.
Winter Solstice
Year: 2023, Tracks: 34, Length: 109:00
People's Picks: Sarah Davachi
Year: 2023, Tracks: 20, Length: 92:00
A Field Guide to... Mississippi
Year: 2023, Tracks: 25, Length: 74:00
The Folkways 75
Year: 2023, Tracks: 75, Length: 255:00
People's Picks: Nora Brown
Year: 2023, Tracks: 20, Length: 65:00
People's Picks: Lankum
Year: 2023, Tracks: 12
Folkways Goes... A Cappella
Year: 2023, Tracks: 50, Length: 108:00
Take a deep dive into the massive & diverse Folkways collection with a cappella tracks from around the world. From sea shanties, sorrow songs, and yodels to ballads, work songs, songs of worship, and much more, Folkways Goes... A Cappella showcases the vibrantly creative ways that people sing.
Songs to Grow On: Children’s Music from Smithsonian Folkways with Mr. Greg
Year: 2023, Tracks: 40, Length: 90:00
People's Picks: Logan Ledger
Year: 2023, Tracks: 18, Length: 56:02
Fight Like Hell: Music for Labor Day
Year: 2023, Tracks: 26, Length: 84:00
To celebrate our shared proletarian history this Labor Day, Kim Kelly brings together songs from the Smithsonian Folkways catalog about struggle, solidarity, joy, organizing, and work.
Staff Jams: Late Summer
Year: 2023, Tracks: 77
Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage staff selected and updated every season. Listen to what we're listening this summer.
People's Picks: Jeffrey Silverstein
Year: 2023, Tracks: 12, Length: 32:59
Curated picks for curious listeners. This iteration chosen by Jeffrey Silverstein.
People's Picks: Bonny Doon
Year: 2023, Tracks: 16, Length: 61:00
Curated picks for curious listeners. This iteration chosen by Bonny Doon.
Introducing: Arhoolie Records
Year: 2023, Tracks: 30, Length: 72:00
When you listen to anything released by Arhoolie Records, you’re hearing the heart of a community being sung into life. Chris Strachwitz, Arhoolie’s founder who passed away earlier this year, was one of the 20th century’s most enthusiastic and prolific documentarians of traditional music, whose …
The Folkways 25: October '23
Year: 2023, Tracks: 25, Length: 62:00
Celebrate the first buds of summer with Smithsonian Folkways. Each playlist from this bi-monthly series features 25 diverse songs and sounds - including deep cuts and long-time favorites - from the Smithsonian Folkways catalog.
People's Picks: Dougie Poole
Year: 2023, Tracks: 11, Length: 32:20
Curated picks for curious listeners. This iteration chosen by Dougie Poole.
Staff Jams: June '23
Year: 2023, Tracks: 76, Length: 321:00
Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage staff selected and updated bi-monthly. Listen to what we're listening to.
People's Picks: Sunny War
Year: 2023, Tracks: 14, Length: 47:11
Curated picks for curious listeners. This iteration chosen by Sunny War.
Mother's Day with Smithsonian Folkways
Year: 2023, Tracks: 24, Length: 63:00
Folkways presents an ode to motherhood through a collection of songs and poems from the catalog. To all of the mother figures, with utmost gratitude - Happy Mother’s Day!
The Folkways 25: April '23
Year: 2023, Tracks: 25, Length: 115:00
A deep dive for casual listeners // a shallow swim for deep listeners. 25 diverse songs and sounds from the Smithsonian Folkways catalog to get you into it. Updated bi-monthly.
Staff Jams: April '23
Year: 2023, Tracks: 59, Length: 112:00
Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage staff selected and updated bi-monthly. Listen to what we're listening to.
People's Picks: Fruit Bats
Year: 2023, Tracks: 15, Length: 48:22
Curated picks for curious listeners. This iteration chosen by Fruit Bats.
A Field Guide to... The Borderlands
Year: 2023, Tracks: 22, Length: 72:00
Explore and learn about the world of sound and music found in the Smithsonian Folkways collection from the comfort of your little device.
Folkways Goes... Instrumental
Year: 2023, Tracks: 35, Length: 77:00
A deep dive into the massive & diverse Folkways collection. In this edition, let your mind wander with instrumental tracks from around the world.
People's Picks: Slaughter Beach, Dog
Year: 2023, Tracks: 10, Length: 36:00
Curated picks for curious listeners. This iteration chosen by Slaughter Beach, Dog.
Side by Side: Celebrating American Women’s Voices from Smithsonian Folkways
Year: 2023, Tracks: 54, Length: 167:00
In celebration of Women’s History Month, we’ve collaborated with the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum to curate a playlist celebrating women’s diverse voices, unique perspectives, and endless perseverance. The tracklist features voices like Angela Davis, Barbara Dane, Fannie Lou Hamer, …
Staff Jams: February '23
Year: 2023, Tracks: 48, Length: 225:00
Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage staff selected and updated bi-monthly. Listen to what we're listening to.
People's Picks: Cornelia Murr
Year: 2023, Tracks: 21, Length: 63:00
Curated picks for curious listeners. This iteration chosen by Cornelia Murr.
Black Love & Joy Through Song
Year: 2023, Tracks: 41, Length: 116:00
In celebration of Black History Month, Dom Flemons curates this playlist featuring songs and sounds that showcase Black love and joy, including "Slow Dance With You" from his upcoming album, Traveling Wildfire.
The Folkways 25: January '23
Year: 2023, Tracks: 25, Length: 89:00
A deep dive for casual listeners // a shallow swim for deep listeners. 25 diverse songs and sounds from the Smithsonian Folkways catalog to get you into it. Updated bi-monthly.
People's Picks: Mali Obomsawin
Year: 2023, Tracks: 14, Length: 50:23
Curated picks for curious listeners. This iteration chosen by Mali Obomsawin.
Resonance: Puentes Sonoros (Quetzal)
Year: 2023, Tracks: 22, Length: 85:00
Finding connections and conversations between different, sometimes diverse recordings in the Smithsonian Folkways catalog. Quetzal Flores and Martha González of Quetzal curate this iteration.
Esta Navidad en Folkways: Holiday Music of Puerto Rico and Its Diaspora
Year: 2022, Tracks: 27, Length: 89:00
A glimpse into the rich tradition of Christmas and holiday music of Puerto Rico and its diaspora from the Smithsonian Folkways catalog.
People's Picks: Horse Lords
Year: 2022, Tracks: 28, Length: 99:00
Curated picks for curious listeners. This iteration chosen by Horse Lords.
Staff Jams: December '22
Year: 2022, Tracks: 50, Length: 225:00
Staff Jams comes from the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage staff, selected and updated bi-monthly. In this edition, we're rounding up our favorite songs of 2022.
Folkways Goes... Festive
Year: 2022, Tracks: 30, Length: 91:00
A deep dive into the massive & diverse Folkways collection, this time exploring songs of festivity, celebration, and togetherness from around the world.
People's Picks: David Pajo
Year: 2022, Tracks: 10, Length: 26:44
Curated picks for curious listeners. This iteration chosen by David Pajo.
The Folkways 25: November '22
Year: 2022, Tracks: 25, Length: 78:00
A deep dive for casual listeners // a shallow swim for deep listeners. 25 diverse songs and sounds from the Smithsonian Folkways catalog to get you into it. Updated bi-monthly.
A Field Guide to... The Ozarks
Year: 2022, Tracks: 26, Length: 75:00
Explore and learn about the world of sound and music found in the Smithsonian Folkways collection from the comfort of your little device.
People's Picks: Sam Amidon
Year: 2022, Tracks: 19, Length: 51:00
Sam Amidon chooses tracks from the Smithsonian Folkways collection for this iteration of People's Picks.
Staff Jams: October 2022
Year: 2022, Tracks: 98, Length: 379:00
People's Picks: Vetiver
Year: 2022, Tracks: 18
Andy Cabic of Vetiver shares his People's Picks playlist, drawing entirely from the Arhoolie Records collection.
The Folkways 25: September '22
Year: 2022, Tracks: 25, Length: 92:00
Jake Blount Presents: Afrofuturism
Year: 2022, Tracks: 18, Length: 100:00
The concept of Afrofuturism is central to Jake Blount's The New Faith album. In this playlist, Blount shares some of the Afrofuturistic music and sounds that spark his creativity, as well as a Q&A.
Folkways Goes... Dancing
Year: 2022, Tracks: 42, Length: 128:00
A deep dive into the massive & diverse Folkways collection, this time exploring the music that makes our bodies move.
People's Picks: Squirrel Flower
Year: 2022, Tracks: 17, Length: 55:17
Curated picks for curious listeners. This iteration chosen by Squirrel Flower.
Staff Jams: August 2022
Year: 2022, Tracks: 81, Length: 314:00
Staff Jams comes from the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage staff, selected and updated bi-monthly. Listen to what we're listening to, from August 2022.
Resonance: Mỹ Lai (Kronos Quartet)
Year: 2022, Tracks: 26, Length: 103:00
The Folkways 25: July '22
Year: 2022, Tracks: 25, Length: 90:00
A deep dive for casual listeners // a shallow swim for deep listeners. 25 diverse songs and sounds from the Smithsonian Folkways catalog to get you into it. Updated bi-monthly.
People's Picks: Patrick Shiroishi
Year: 2022, Tracks: 18, Length: 81:00
Patrick Shiroishi curates this iteration of People's Picks.
A Field Guide to... North Carolina
Year: 2022, Tracks: 23, Length: 76:00
Explore and learn about the world of sound and music found in the Smithsonian Folkways collection from the comfort of your little device. A Field Guide to... North Carolina was curated by Steve Weiss of the Southern Folklife Collection and Interim Music Librarian of UNC Chapel Hill.
People's Picks: Isik Kural
Year: 2022, Tracks: 18, Length: 49:00
Isik Kural curates this iteration of People's Picks.
Staff Jams: June 2022
Year: 2022, Tracks: 95, Length: 390:00
Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage staff selected and updated bi-monthly. Listen to what we're listening to.
The Brain on Banjos
Year: 2022, Tracks: 33, Length: 98:00
Curated by Pharis & Jason Romero, a journey through one man’s banjo obsession. Jason moves slowly through the deep and beautiful forest of North American banjo music, meeting the greats and the obscure along the way.
People's Picks: Lee Buford (of The Body)
Year: 2022, Tracks: 18, Length: 86:00
Lee Buford of The Body curates this iteration of People's Picks.
The Folkways 25: May '22
Year: 2022, Tracks: 25, Length: 71:00
A deep dive for casual listeners // a shallow swim for deep listeners. 25 diverse songs and sounds from the Smithsonian Folkways catalog to get you into it. Updated bi-monthly.
Folkways Goes...Outside
Year: 2022, Tracks: 35, Length: 110:00
Take a walk through the wilderness of the Smithsonian Folkways catalog in collaboration with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and Smithsonian Earth Optimism initiative.
People's Picks: Aquarium Drunkard
Year: 2022, Tracks: 14, Length: 64:00
Justin Gage of Aquarium Drunkard curates this iteration of People's Picks.
Staff Jams: April 2022
Year: 2022, Tracks: 66, Length: 280:00
Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage staff selected and updated bi-monthly. Listen to what we're listening to.
Resonance: Songs of the Naxi of Southwest China
Year: 2022, Tracks: 28, Length: 83:00
Producer Helen Rees curates and annotates a playlist of songs and sounds from the Smithsonian Folkways catalog that resonate with He Jinhua's 'Songs of the Naxi of Southwest China'.
People's Picks: Claire Rousay
Year: 2022, Tracks: 20, Length: 203:00
Curated picks for curious listeners. This iteration chosen by Claire Rousay.
The Folkways 25: March '22
Year: 2022, Tracks: 25, Length: 82:00
A deep dive for casual listeners // a shallow swim for deep listeners. 25 diverse songs and sounds from the Smithsonian Folkways catalog to get you into it. Updated bi-monthly.
A Field Guide to... Appalachia
Year: 2022, Tracks: 28, Length: 98:00
Explore and learn about the world of sound and music found in the Smithsonian Folkways collection from the comfort of your little device. A Field Guide to... Appalachia was curated by Smithsonian Folkways head curator Jeff Place.
A People in Flight: African Americans in Movement
Year: 2022, Tracks: 94, Length: 269:00
African Americans have historically been a people in motion. The Africans who arrived in the thirteen colonies were forced to leave their homes in various African kingdoms and empires, where they were citizens, to become non-citizens in the chattel slavery of the United States.
People’s Picks: Jake Xerxes Fussell
Year: 2022, Tracks: 25, Length: 89:00
Jake Xerxes Fussell curates this iteration of People's Picks.
People’s Picks: Cassandra Jenkins
Year: 2022, Tracks: 20, Length: 77:00
I immersed myself in the World of Sound Catalog and gravitated towards the scientific, sacred, psychological, and spoken word corners of the collection.
People’s Picks: Jolie Holland
Year: 2021, Tracks: 15, Length: 67:00
What a joy to look through the Folkways catalogue! I picked a lot of music that’s really influenced me, music from my own regional and cultural backgrounds, and some songs from people who mentored my friends.
People’s Picks: Jake Blount
Year: 2021, Tracks: 15, Length: 47:00
I've spent a great deal of time sifting through old recordings of Black vocal music over the past two years. Fond as I am of our instrumental performances, there's a special magic that happens when we reach for harmony together without an established chord structure to guide us.
People’s Picks: Josh Rosenthal (of Tompkins Square Records)
Year: 2021, Tracks: 15, Length: 39:00
As a record label proprietor trading in diverse repertoire, there is no greater influence or inspiration than Folkways. For those of us releasing archival and new works in the remote ‘folk’ world, we are all standing on the shoulders of this giant.
People’s Picks: Daniel Bachman
Year: 2021, Tracks: 21, Length: 58:00
I first learned about Smithsonian Folkways through my dad's record collection. He had picked up a number of those records while working as a gigging folk musician around the Virginia and D.C. area in the 60's and 70's.
People’s Picks: Charlie Parr
Year: 2021, Tracks: 20, Length: 122:00
I tend to listen to more guitar music than other types, even though I make a very conscious effort to include a lot of different sounds in my listening, the sounds that the guitar is capable of are still my favorite. Today these are my essential guitarists, making sounds with the instrument that …
People’s Picks: William Tyler
Year: 2021, Tracks: 12, Length: 61:00
The initial inspiration for this playlist was the work of one of my heroes, the recordist Tony Schwartz. There was something in the stillness and isolation of Covid that drew me back to his street recordings of New York specifically.
People’s Picks: Marisa Anderson
Year: 2021, Tracks: 19, Length: 55:00
This mix is all Caribbean music, with a focus on stringed and melodic instruments and only including music from the islands, no continental countries on this playlist. I love this music so much, and have been doing a deep dive into Caribbean history...
Beckoning: A Playlist of AAPI Joy, Sorrow, Rage, & Resistance
Year: 2021, Tracks: 34
People’s Picks: Yasmin Williams
Year: 2021, Tracks: 22, Length: 102:00
This playlist focuses on Black music throughout the centuries, from the heart of Africa to throughout the diaspora, and includes various genres and emotions, from black pain to black joy.
People’s Picks: No-No Boy
Year: 2021, Tracks: 19, Length: 52:00
I love making playlists. Always have. Total mixtape kid growing up with an unhealthy allegiance to the movie High Fidelity through my college years. Putting this together for Folkways’ Spotify page is a real honor.
People’s Picks: Pearl Charles
Year: 2021, Tracks: 30, Length: 117:00
I can’t tell you how excited I was to make this playlist. Mining their vast catalogue, I chose many of my favorites from their repertoire and placed them alongside various other songs that not only have inspired me, but that I feel are a continuation of those same traditions.
People’s Picks: Ira Kaplan (of Yo La Tengo)
Year: 2021, Tracks: 23, Length: 121:00
On this list is a title borrowed by Yo La Tengo, original versions of songs I first heard covered by pre- and post-punk bands, and a pork chop number that’s not the one that Michael (“Mike”) Hurley did.
People’s Picks: Aaron Dilloway
Year: 2020, Tracks: 30
I decided for this mix I would concentrate on some of the more bizarre recordings in their catalog, as well as digging deep into the Cook Laboratories archive which has thankfully been acquired by Smithsonian Folkways. Hearing these sounds out of context are fascinating on the basis of their …
People’s Picks: Bonny Light Horseman
Year: 2020, Tracks: 22, Length: 79:00
Anaïs Mitchell, Eric D. Johnson, and Josh Kaufman of Bonny Light Horseman curate picks for curious listeners of Folkways and beyond.
People’s Picks: Numero Group
Year: 2020, Tracks: 18, Length: 57:00
Sometimes it’s the warm hum of folk records with socialist leanings that really soothes the spirit, other times it’s the romantic serenades of Luiz Bonfa & his trusted guitar. Take a break from the noise with a collection of tracks that offer us a glimpse of comfort and verity in time uncertain.
People’s Picks: Christopher Paul Stelling
Year: 2020, Tracks: 25, Length: 80:00
Before commodification took over, we had a wealth of truly unique women and men creating eerily beautiful songs that dealt with all matters of peril and uncertainty, of faith and fear, and of life and death.
People’s Picks: Shannen Moser
Year: 2020, Tracks: 20, Length: 64:00
I think this playlist is an accurate depiction of the music I listen to on any given day- some new some old, all hovering around folk with storytelling at the center. All of these songs have been crucial to my development as an artist.
People’s Picks: This Is the Kit
Year: 2019, Tracks: 50, Length: 143:00
Just hearing these voices from other lands and languages (and other times) I find hugely reassuring and encouraging. All these humans, all getting on with what they do. And so beautifully. Highly inspiring.
People’s Picks: Itasca
Year: 2019, Tracks: 17, Length: 64:00
Because of the size of the catalog, and the humbling idea of “choosing my favorites” from such a large field of work. I figured I’d approach it in one of two ways. One, to pick a favorite subsection…and delve deeply into that specific group of records. Or, jump around, picking favorites from a …
People’s Picks: Tom Brosseau
Year: 2019, Tracks: 20, Length: 61:00
Folk songs of all kinds, from all over the world, stories and funnies told and sung by men, women, and children, from all kinds of different backgrounds is what you’ll encounter on this compilation. I hope that you’ll enjoy listening to these gems.
People's Picks: Sunny Jain
Year: 2019, Tracks: 12, Length: 70:00
As I was gearing up to write new music for my debut on the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, I was delving into the music of my youth, while at the same time discovering music new to my ears. This playlists is some of that music that perhaps influenced my writing.
People’s Picks: Hiss Golden Messenger
Year: 2019, Tracks: 57, Length: 169:00
These songs are at the root of everything I know and love about American music: Wandering heart songs that speak the truth. Listen and get right!
People’s Picks: House and Land
Year: 2019, Tracks: 15, Length: 43:00
Traditional Appalachian music may have reeled us in, but everything from early experiments in electronic music to Lappish Joik songs of Northern Norway to field recordings of an office fax machine to the sweet sad panpipes of Quecha music of Peru - keeps us agape at the vast creativity and …
People’s Picks: Our Native Daughters
Year: 2019, Tracks: 23, Length: 75:00
Members of Our Native Daughters share tracks that inspired the recording of Songs from Our Native Daughters.
¡Que Viva la Música Latina!
Year: 2018, Tracks: 13, Length: 49:08
Radio Jarochelo: Connecting Communities
Year: 2016, Tracks: 4, Length: 12:03
Roots of the Grateful Dead from Smithsonian Folkways
Year: 2015, Tracks: 16, Length: 52:26
The Grateful Dead, celebrating their 50th anniversary in 2015, have inspired a passionate and enduring fan base that stretches around the world. The band’s repertoire reveals myriad influences from traditional American (and a few non-American) genres, and band members frequently cited Folkways …