Smithsonian Folkways Nabs 4 GRAMMY Nominations

Congratulations to Smithsonian Folkways Recordings on their four GRAMMY nominations this year, joining 23 other Folkways nominations, and five wins over the last twenty years.

Best Regional Mexican incl. Tejano: Mariachi Los Camperos - 'De Ayer Para Siempre'
Best American Roots Song: “Black Myself” - Our Native Daughters - 'Songs of Our Native Daughters'
Best Album Notes: 'Pete Seeger: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection' (Jeff Place)
Best Historical Album: 'Pete Seeger: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection' (Jeff Place, Robert Santelli, and Pete Reiniger)

More information on this year's GRAMMY-nominated releases below:

Mariachi Los Camperos - 'De Ayer Para Siempre:' 'De Ayer para Siempre (From Yesterday to Forever),' revitalizes classic sones, rancheras, and boleros with unparalleled artistry and spirited ingenuity. Founded by late mariachi legend Nati Cano, Mariachi Los Camperos is now fronted by bandleader Jesús “Chuy” Guzman, who continues to promote Cano’s legacy. As a result, the group is not only one of the most popular and influential mariachi ensembles in the world, but also is emblematic of the social status and artistic recognition that mariachi has finally attained. 

Listen HERE

Our Native Daughters - 'Songs of Our Native Daughters:' 'Songs of Our Native Daughters' shines new light on African-American women’s stories of struggle, resistance, and hope. Pulling from and inspired by 17th-, 18th-, and 19th-century sources, including slave narratives and early minstrelsy, kindred banjo players Rhiannon Giddens, Amythyst Kiah, Leyla McCalla, and Allison Russell reinterpret and create new works from old ones.

Listen HERE

"Black Myself," sung/written by Kiah, is, in her words, a song "linked to the history of interracial discrimination, the idea that being a lighter shade of black is more desirable ... I thought of my experience as a black girl in a white suburban neighborhood in the 1990s, and how, once puberty hit, the doors of my neighbors would soon be suddenly closed to me. ... an anthem for those who have been alienated and othered because of the color of their skin.”

Listen to "Black Myself" HERE

'Pete Seeger: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection:' Featuring classic recordings, 20 previously unreleased tracks, historic live performances, and special collaborations, this set encompasses over 60 years of Pete Seeger’s Folkways catalog, released on the occasion of his 100th birthday. A giant of 20th Century music and culture more broadly, Seeger was a singer, a rebel, and a voice of the people. With a banjo and a selfless dedication to justice and the transformative power of music, he inspired all of humanity to question the status quo, to sing out and speak up against oppression wherever they witnessed it.

"His work lives on, inspiring artists to create music that urges people to make the world a better place.” - The Recording Academy

This collection features a large-format 200-page book with hundreds of pages of essays, commentary, photographs, history, and liner notes, and completes the trilogy of Smithsonian Folkways anthologies alongside collections of Lead Belly and Woody Guthrie.

Listen HERE