Appleseed Recordings Celebrates 21st Anniversary With Historic Triple Album Set, Out October 19th

In honor of 21 years at the forefront of the folk protest tradition, Appleseed Recordings will release a powerhouse triple album set exploring two decades of their most revolutionary work, featuring new recordings from Bruce Springsteen, Tom Morello, Donovan, Tim Robbins, John Wesley Harding, Tom Russell + more. Across 57 tracks total, each disc of “Appleseed’s 21st Anniversary: Roots and Branches” serves as a beacon of the label’s longstanding devotion to three philosophies: truth telling, preserving our wisdom keepers both past and present, and keeping the legacy of roots music alive for future generations. 

Appleseed founder Jim Musselman spoke with Billboard about the collection and shared three standout entries from the catalog this morning – read/listen here: http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8471004/appleseed-roots-and-branches-album

Although steeped in the history of traditional folk, roots, and world music, the themes on “Roots and Branches” ring especially true in our present moment. Tom Russell offers a searing new take on Bruce Springsteen’s “Across the Border,” recorded firsthand on the New Mexico/Mexico line; social worker Anne Hills takes a harrowing look into the heroin epidemic on “Needle of Death”; Tom Morello reimagines AC/DC’s “Dirty Deeds” to name check US foreign policy and “fake news”; and John Wesley Harding’s own 12 year-old daughter appears on “Scared of Guns” to recite NRA donation figures, updating the original with crunchy guitars and the voice of a new generation. Additional contributors to this collection include Pete Seeger, Ani DiFranco, Joan Baez, Al Stewart, Billy Bragg, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and more. See full track list below. 

“The CDs in this 21st anniversary set have been loosely organized by separate, but frequently overlapping, themes,” says Appleseed founder Jim Musselman. “They match my three goals in forming Appleseed Recordings – to provide an outlet for songs of social justice, both current and past; to release newly written songs of personal experience and emotion in modern times; and to keep alive the centuries of still-vital traditional songs from our country’s and our world’s history. To learn how to move forward, we can never forget the lessons, or songs, of the past.” 

Founded in 1997, Appleseed Recordings is the independent, internationally distributed label helmed by activist and attorney Jim Musselman. Devoted to releasing socially conscious contemporary, folk, and roots music, the label has earned Grammy Awards and the dedication of numerous musical legends, including 20 Rock and Roll Hall of Famers. Their releases have soundtracked the ups and downs of our modern history, covering themes both timely and timeless – from 9/11 and strong opposition of the Iraq War, Northern Ireland’s fight for independence, and the eternal struggle for human and environmental rights – with a portion of profits from many releases going towards the progressive organizations that help Appleseed put their philosophy into action. 

More info on Appleseed Recordings here: http://www.appleseedmusic.com/

DISC ONE – “Let the Truth Be Told”

1.     Pete Seeger – Oh Sacred World
2.     Bruce Springsteen – If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song) (exclusive new song)
3.     Tom Morello – Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (exclusive new song)
4.     Tim Robbins – Well May the World Go (exclusive new song)
5.     Joan Baez – I Wish the Wars Were All Over
6.     Pete Seeger with Billy Bragg, Ani DiFranco, Steve Earle and Anne Hills – Bring Them Home (If You Love Your Uncle Sam)
7.     Tom Russell – Across the Border (exclusive new song)
8.     Johnny Clegg – Love in the Time of Gaza
9.     John Wesley Harding (w/ Corporal Quorum) – Scared of Guns (Amended)  (exclusive new song)
10. Sweet Honey in the Rock – Second Line Blues
11. Anne Hills – Needle of Death (exclusive new song)
12. Natalie Merchant & Friends – There is No Good Reason
13. The Kennedys – Give Me Back My Country
14. Studs Terkel – Blessed Be the Nation
15. Tom Morello – This Land is Your Land
16. Bruce Springsteen – We Shall Overcome
17. Pete Seeger – Dr. King on Violence

DISC TWO – “Wisdom Keepers”

1.     Jesse Winchester – Get It Right One Day (exclusive new song)
2.     Donovan – Poorman’s Sunshine
3.     Dick Gaughan – Land of the North Wind
4.     Tom Paxton & Anne Hills – Follow that Road
5.     Al Stewart – Katherine of Oregon
6.     Jonathan Edwards – Surrounded
7.     Jackson Browne & Bonnie Raitt – Kisses Sweeter than Wine
8.     Angel Band – Jump Back in the Ditch
9.     Eric Andersen – Gonna Go Crazy
10. Tom Rush – What I Know
11. Sweet Honey in the Rock – IDK, But I’m LOL
12. Lizzie West & the White Buffalo – Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman (Thank You)
13. Joel Rafael Band with Jackson Browne, Jimmy LaFave and Arlo Guthrie – Stepstone
14. Tom Paxton – Looking for the Moon
15. Pete Seeger and Lorre Wyatt with Emmylou Harris – Somos El Barco/We Are the Boat
16. John Stewart – There is Love (Wedding Song) (exclusive new song)
17. Jesse Winchester – Sham-a-Ling-Dong-Ding
18. Dick Gaughan – When I’m Gone

DISC THREE – “Keeping the Songs Alive”

1.     John Gorka – The Water is Wide
2.     David Bromberg with Levon Helm – Bring it With You When You Come
3.     Ramblin’ Jack Elliott – Roving Gambler
4.     Tim Eriksen – Careless Love
5.     Donovan – Wild Mountain Thyme (exclusive new song)
6.     Roger McGuinn with Judy Collins – John Riley
7.     John Wesley Harding – Canadee-I-O
8.     Bernice Johnson Reagon with Kim & Reggie Harris – Oh Mary, Don’t You Weep
9.     Pete Seeger – Going Across the Mountain
10. Frank Proffitt – Tom Dooley
11. Guardabarranco – Asturias
12. Lila Downs – El Quinto Regimiento
13. Aoife Clancy – Are You Sleepin’, Maggie?
14. Alec Stone Sweet – Mrs. Poer, or, The Concerto
15. Jody Stecher and Kate Brislin – Sow ‘Em on the Mountain
16. Steve Young – Little Birdie
17. Mike Seeger and Peggy Seeger – Cindy
18. Sharon Katz & the Peace Train – Sanalwami
19. Danny Glover and Rev. Robert B. Jones, Sr. – Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning
20. Kim and Reggie Harris – Wade in the Water
21. John Stewart & Darwin’s Army – Bay of Mexico
22. Tommy Sands with Dolores Keane and Vedran Smailovic – Where Have All the Flowers Gone