May 19, 2021
We are proud to release new, never-before-heard recordings from the great Bahamian guitar legend and otherworldly talent
July 23, 2021 on CD, digital, and streaming and
October 8th, 2021 on LP (orders of the LP include a special Joseph Spence The Voice from Heaven bumper sticker, designed by Darryl Norsen), with all versions available for pre-order now. Recorded by renowned recording engineer, documentarian, and producer Peter Siegel in 1965 in New York City and the Bahamas,
Encore: Unheard Recordings of Bahamian Guitar and Singing offers a look at a grandmaster at work, at the height of his powers and recorded with expert equipment. The album also includes two entirely new songs that Spence had never recorded before and new settings of Spence classics! A brilliantly virtuosic guitarist who influenced everyone from Richard Thompson to The Grateful Dead, Ry Cooder, and Taj Mahal, Joseph Spence was infused with the spirit of improvisation. As he sang, lyr
Originally released by Folk-Legacy Records in in 1976, Harry Tuft’s
Across the Blue Mountains is a collection of traditional and new folk songs in the spirit of the folk revival. First an important figure in the Philadelphia folk scene of the late 1950s, in the 1960s in Colorado Tuft went on to establish the Denver Folklore Center, one of the city’s most significant venues for folk music, welcoming the likes of Doc Watson and Leo Kottke. On
Across the Blue Mountains, Tuft plays arrangements that sound both traditional and contemporary, inspired by trends in fingerstyle guitar playing from the 1970s. Highlights include a gorgeous 12-string rendition of The Mermaid (Child 289) featuring Ed Trickett, and a version of Lord Gregory (Child 76) taught to Tuft by the great Karen Dalton.
Rolling Stone Menu Mavis Staples, Melissa Etheridge to Perform at MerleFest 2021
Eclectic multi-day event to return to Wilkesboro, North Carolina, in September
By AP Photo/Wade Payne
After being forced to take a year off due to the Covid-19 pandemic, MerleFest will return in Fall 2021. The annual eclectic musical fest will take place September 16th to 19th in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, with a first round of performers that includes Melissa Etheridge, Mavis Staples, and LeAnn Rimes.
Held over the course of three days at Wilkes Community College, the event includes appearances by Tedeschi Trucks composed of bandleaders and partners Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks Donna the Buffalo, Scythian, and the Waybacks. Additional artists will be announced in the coming weeks and tickets will go on sale June 10th.
“Covid-19 made us do a lot of things this year that we had not done in the past,” said McIntyre, who lives with his wife and coproducer Deni, in the Crab Creek community. “We needed to have a location where we could bring these performers in and make them feel safe and basically take over the while place. We had like two pages of protocol we had to follow. Nobody got sick. The food came in boxes.”
In collaboration with David Holt, the host, singer and multi-instrumentalist, the McIntyres decided to say close to home. They scouted for locations with wide open spaces, versatility and good acoustics, then invited performers to spend some time on set with the Blue Ridge Mountains as backdrop. The six episodes were all filmed in Henderson and Buncombe counties.