Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

Preorder Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection

Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection is the first career-spanning, in-depth box set dedicated to the American music icon. The 140-page, large-format book includes five CDs with 108 tracks (16 previously unreleased), accompanied by historic photos and extensive notes. The box set will be available in stores February 24, 2015, but you can preorder a discounted package today that includes an instant album download, limited-edition poster, and T-shirt*.

Listen to a sneak preview, including the previously unreleased song “Been So Long (Bellevue Hospital Blues)”

Preorder Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection

*Preorder packages will ship in February 2015. Package items also sold separately.

Now Hiring for the 2015 Folklife Festival

Interested in working at the Folklife Festival? You're in luck! We just posted temporary job openings for the 2015 Festival featuring Peru. Click the link below to see the position descriptions and more information. We are accepting applications through January 9, 2015.

Apply here

Labor Music in Smithsonian Folkways Magazine

Labor music is such a strong part of the Smithsonian Folkways collection that we have dedicated an entire issue of our online magazine to exploring it. In this issue:

• Labor songwriter John Handcox and his formative influence, with archival interview recordings
• Working-class musician Bev Grant’s autobiographical story
• Wisconsin’s ongoing Solidarity Sing Along alongside a 24-track companion playlist
• Musical labor practices in Tanzania, accompanied by original fieldwork media

Now Available from UNESCO Collection: Greece, Kurdish Music, Laos, Syria, Thailand, Vanuatu, and More

The Smithsonian Folkways reissue of two albums per week from the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music continues! Read the latest guest blog posts, and check back weekly to explore musical traditions from around the world.

Subscriber Discount: Enter code UNESCO11 at folkways.si.edu and save 20% off retail price on any UNESCO CD or album download through December 31.

From the Archives: Snake Hunter with a Microphone

Zoologist and explorer Arthur M. Greenhall was a director of the Detroit Zoo, an expert on vampire bats, and an audio enthusiast. While at the zoo, he spent many hours recording some of the zoo’s 4,000 animals. These recordings and Art’s narration later formed the core of Sounds of Animals: Audible Communication of Zoo and Farm Animals, released by Folkways Records in 1954.

Podcasts: Voices from the Folklife Festival

So many stories are told on the National Mall during the Folklife Festival—how could one possibly hear them all? Luckily, intern Danielle Wu has captured these stories and voices by producing four podcasts about a few of the most intriguing and challenging narrative session topics:

• Missing Voices: The Need for Ethnic Media
• Biking in China
• Songs of Struggle
• Producing Ethnicity: The Ethics of Showcasing Culture

Leave a Sound Legacy

Charitable bequests are among the simplest and most flexible ways to donate. Contact Cynthia Jacobs Carter at CarterCJ@si.edu for more information about how planned giving can benefit you and help sustain the nonprofit mission of the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

Images (top to bottom): 1) Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection package. Design by Visual Dialogue. 2) The 2014 Smithsonian Folklife Festival staff. Photo by Walter Larrimore, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. 3) John Handcox and Michael Honey, 1986. Photo by Larry Rubin. 4) Syrian Orthodox Church: Antioch Liturgy album cover. 5) Arthur M. Greenhall recording tortoises at the Detroit Zoo, ca. 1948. Photo by Bob Smallman, PIX Incorporated, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. 6) Khalil Abdullah and Tabu Osusa discuss the topic of ethnic media. Photo by Rachel Winslow, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. 7) Marching Across The Green Grass and Other American Children's Game Songs album cover. Photo by George Pickow.