WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour hosts Smithsonian Folkways special Oct. 29

On October 29, 2018, WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour hosts Smithsonian Folkways artists and curators in celebrating the milestone of reaching our 70th year by devoting an entire episode to the record label.

This year has been a major moment for Smithsonian Folkways, honoring and reveling in our storied past while looking forward to our next decades. It is an exciting opportunity to bring a little bit of the magic of these months to the WoodSongs program.

The lineup for the broadcast will feature GRAMMY-award winning musician Dom Flemons, Iraqi-American oud master Rahim Alhaj, and brand new Folkways signee Kaia Kater. Smithsonian Folkways Director and Curator Huib Schippers and Curator and Senior Archivist Jeff Place will join Johnathon on-stage and on the air to share stories and solidarity with WoodSongs' audience.

As WoodSongs creator Michael Johnathon notes, "Smithsonian Folkways is the musical treasure box of America's roots music. It is Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly and Big Bill Broonzy. It's what WoodSongs aspires to be. Our show was even based on Pete's old TV series Rainbow Quest. It's like WoodSongs is coming full circle as we present the great work of Smithsonian Folkways to a world wide audience." 

WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour is an all volunteer live audience celebration of grassroots music and the artists who make it. It is a multi-media event that tapes at the historic Lyric Theatre in Lexington, Kentucky and is hosted by folksinger Michael Johnathon. The show is broadcast on over 515 radio stations, American Forces Radio Network, podcast, public TV stations across the country and RFD-TV nationwide. 

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution, the national museum of the United States. They are dedicated to supporting cultural diversity and increased understanding among peoples through the documentation, preservation, and dissemination of sound. They believe that musical and cultural diversity contributes to the vitality and quality of life throughout the world. 

ABOUT SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS RECORDINGS:
Going into its 70th year, 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.

Follow Smithsonian Folkways Recordings here:
Official Website: folkways.si.edu
Facebook: facebook.com/smithsonianfolkwaysrecordings
Twitter: twitter.com/folkways
Instagram: instagram.com/smithsonianfolkways

Digital Press Kit: shorefire.com/roster/smithsonian-folkways-recordings