Includes music by Blind Lemon Jefferson, Son House, Kokomo Arnold, Mamie Smith, Jimmie Rodgers, Chet Atkins, Carson Robison, Ernest Tubb, Blind Willie Johnson, Leadbelly, Sons Of The Pioneers, Uncle Dave Macon, and more (Blues, Folk/Country) CD

Beautiful Appalachian Americana from the late 20s & early 30s in a pretty broad pastiche of string band styles – from furiously sawed hillbilly numbers, to banjo & fiddle flavored vocal tunes, to popular tin pan alley songs of the time – the complete recordings of The Red Fox Chasers! The Chasers hailed from northwest North Carolina, and brought a more widely appealing style to the regional American music sounds of the period. It's pretty exciting and energetic stuff, exceptionally well packaged by Tompkins Square. 40 recordings on 2CDs: "Arkansas Traveler", "Honeysuckle Time", "Jim & Me", "Wreck On The Mountain Road", "Girl I Loved In Sunny Tennessee", "Mississippi Sawers", "May I Sleep In Your Barn Tonight Mister?", "Pretty Polly", "The Blind Man & His Child", "Virginia Bootleggers", "Turkey In The Straw", "Something Wrong With My Gal", "Two False Lovers", "Tell My Mother I'll Meet Her", "Devilish Mary", "Making Licker In North Carolina" (Pts 1, 2, 3 & 4) and more. CD

Amazing music from the depths of the Great Depression, but it's hardly a downer – this is a deeply felt collection of tunes by black & white singers and combos of the 20s & 30s that's cathartic, emotional, and a complete treasure trove! The songs are full of brutal beauty, tragedy, and some dark humor, especially when it gets to the murder ballads – and more than 30 of the 70 songs haven't been reissued before now! This is simply one of the very best sets of archival Americana since the epic CD releases of the Anthology Of American Folk Music. It's really that good! The discs are separated thematically – Man V Machine, Man V Nature, and Man V Man (And Woman, Too) – and titles include "Titanic Blues" by Hi Henry Brown & Charlie Jordan, "The Crash Of The Akron" by Bob Miller, "Wreck Of Old 97" by Skillet Lickers, "The Fatal Wreck Of The Blus" bu Mainer's Mountaineers, "The Story Of The Mighty Mississippi" by Ernest Stoneman, "When The Levee Breaks" by Kansas Joe & Memphis Minnie, "The Death Of Floyd Collins" by Vernon Dalhart, "Peddler And His Wife" by Hayes Shepherd, "Frankie" by Dykes Magic City Trio, "Dupree Blues" by Willie Walker. 70 tracks on 3CDs! CD

Lucinda Williams second album for Folkways – and the first to feature her own material – introducing one of the best Americana singer songwriters of the past few decades! Happy Woman Blues has an apt title, and although there's plenty of heartache in her radiating from her vocal chords and in her words, it's done with passionate, unflinching confidence and charisma the brings a smile to our faces as wide as the one she's wearing in the cover photo. More of a honky tonk record than a blues record, and a great one! Essential! Titles include "Lafayette", "Lost It", "Maria", "Happy Woman Blues", "Rolling Along", "Howlin At Midnight", "Hard Road", "Louisiana Man" and more. CD

A great collection of wonderful gramophone recordings from as early as 1916 up to the first half of the 60s – all from the 78s collection of Frank Fairfield – a folk guitarist profoundly influenced by such amazing old crackling records! It's music from all over the world, with a much farther reach than Americana – with recordings from around the US, Japan, Scotland and other points global. Excellent! 16 in all: "Poor Convict Blues" buy Slim Barton & James Moore, "Cambells Are Coming" by Tommy Dandurand & Ed Goodreau, "Makwatu" by Kakapti, "The Pool Of Siloam" by Rev. Frank Cotton, "Ama Ama" by Tautu Archer, "Kongshoung Niaoyu" by Professor Liu Tianhua. CD