Cassandra Jenkins Dives into Vast Smithsonian Folkways Catalog for “People’s Picks” Series

American singer-songwriter Cassandra Jenkins is the latest artist to dive into the legendarily deep and historic Smithsonian Folkways Records catalog for the label’s "People's Picks" series, where notable musicians assemble their own personal playlist, hand-picked from Folkways' musically dizzying 60,000+ song collection.

Past "People's Picks" contributors include Jolie Holland, Jake Blount, Daniel Bachman, Charlie Parr, William Tyler, Marisa Anderson, Yasmin Williams, No-No Boy, Pearl Charles, and Ira Kaplan (Yo La Tengo). Listen to past playlists here: https://folkways.si.edu/peoples-picks

Jenkins' latest album, An Overview on Phenomenal Nature, was described by Stereogum as "one of 2021’s most extraordinary albums" and was featured on year-end lists from Pitchfork, The Guardian, and many more. Going into the new year, she is headed on a cross-country tour before going abroad to Europe this summer. More info here, with tour dates below: https://cassandrajenkins.com/#shows

Inspired by the different ways humans understand and interact with nature, Jenkins' playlist seeks to connect and inspire others through sound. Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5631kgreshkgIwcuI87zAC?si=a1427782a1ca48dc

The Smithsonian Folkways catalog includes a broad range of historical and modern works that showcase global culture and challenge mainstream history. Over the past 70 years, Smithsonian Folkways has cultivated a "world of sound" that brings unique perspectives to the kaleidoscopic vision of music. For the "People's Picks" series, artists are brought in to browse the expansive catalog and construct a narrative that speaks to them.

In the following passage, Jenkins delves into her thought process behind assembling her playlist, including the inspiration she drew from nature, particularly the Lyre Bird: 

Grasping the Lyrebird’s Tail

Voices mimicking instruments mimicking animals mimicking instruments mimicking voices. Transmutation, Cloud relaxation, heart beat, beat poet, bird songs, cow boys.

I immersed myself in the World of Sound Catalog and gravitated towards the scientific, sacred, psychological, and spoken word corners of the collection. What emerged from my wanderings is a string of recordings that speak to our need to interpret, interact with, and immerse ourselves in nature, and occasionally aim to empower the listener with their innate inclination towards healing. Once I began listening, I found myself following one recording to the next, curious about each character I met along the way. The experience felt like a walk through a museum of natural history, because the individuals capturing the world around them became just as fascinating as the subjects they aim to put on display. The whole experience led me to the question, why do we sing?

My chosen mascot for this collection revealed themselves when I came across an album of recordings of the Lyre Bird, a large peacock-like ground-dweller from Australia, known for it’s uncanny ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environment. We have come to understand the calls to be part of an elaborate mating ritual (during which they sing for up to four hours a day), and the scientist suggests that there remains much mystery around the bird’s behaviors, likening their reception of another’s call to telepathy. So while we struggle to understand the world around us, perhaps nature too is seeking the songs, sounds, and language that allow us to connect with one another as well as the worlds that extend just beyond our grasp.  

Cassandra Jenkins -- 2022 Tour Dates

1/20/22 - Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater *

1/22/22 - Minneapolis, MN - Palace Theater *

1/23/22 - Chicago. IL - Chicago Theater *

1/25/22 - Detroit, MI - Masonic Temple Theater *

1/26/22 - Columbus, OH - Express Live *

1/28/22 - Nasvhille, TN - Ryman Auditorium *

1/29/22 - Atlanta, GA - The Eastern *

2/4/22 - Nashville, TN - The Basement East ^

2/5/22 - Oxford, MS - Proud Larry’s ^

2/7/22 - Dallas, TX - Club Dada ^

2/8/22 - Austin, TX - 3ten ACL Live ^

2/12/22 - Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour ^

2/13/22 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent ^

2/15/22 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios ^

2/17/22 - Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern ^

* - with Courtney Barnett

^ - with The Weather Station

About Smithsonian Folkways:

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, the "National Museum of Sound," makes available close to 60,000 tracks in physical and digital format as the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian, with a reach of 80 million people per year. A division of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, the non-profit label is dedicated to supporting cultural diversity and increased understanding among people through the documentation, preservation, production and dissemination of sound. Its mission is the legacy of Moses Asch, who founded Folkways Records in 1948 to document "people's music" from around the world. For more information about Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, visit folkways.si.edu.

For more information on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 

Follow Smithsonian Folkways:

Official website: folkways.si.edu

Facebook: facebook.com/smithsonianfolkwaysrecordings

Twitter: twitter.com/folkways

Instagram: instagram.com/smithsonianfolkways

For more information on Smithsonian Folkways, contact Mark Satlof (msatlof@shorefire.com) orHannah Schwartz (hschwartz@shorefire.com).

For more information on Cassandra Jenkins, contact Ben Goldberg (ben@badabingrecords.com), Brandon Stosuy (brandon@zone6mgmt.com), and Sam Trottier (sam@zone6mgmt.com).