A selection of songs is up on 8tracks. Full list over the fold.

I was just doing my August eMusic Downloads post and raving about Smithsonian Folkways, so then I decided the entry deserved a whole post of its own. Smithsonian Folkways is Teh Awesome and they're doing a couple of the things I reckon all labels should be doing. Bravo!:

Classic Mountain Songs from Smithsonian Folkways ---- Truly wonderful collection. The music of North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky in all its raw glory. Your old timey legends plus more obscure names (man, those Old Regular Baptists are something else.) Smithsonian Folkways (and Smithsonian Global Sounds) is also brilliant in having its liner notes available for download, with extensive annotations of each song. Worth reading with or without the music. They also have digital downloads (MP3 or FLAC) for a fair price on their site so I'm going to buy things directly from them even though I could get them from eMusic for cheaper 'cause they deserve it. Heaven on earth would be being able to do this ...

Two new country albums I am enjoying for your consideration. This gives a good run down of the songs and guests on Darrell Scott's Modern Hymns. A long time fave of mine, he has such a keening voice which mines a lot of pathos from great songwriting (his own and the excellent covers here) and yet can do the lighter, front porch hoe down. To pick a couple of highlights: with Mary Gauthier on "Joan of Arc" (the backup girls and even Scott's voice on it are very Cohen), "American Tune" and "Frisco Depot" (Waylon Jennings).

Jerry Douglas is a legendary instrumentalist of course so you know you're in for sublime interpretations there. He also ropes in a couple of guests like Earl Scruggs, Rodney Crowell and TravisTritt to compliment. I particularly like Crowell on his own song, Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper's Dream.)

Shaun just reminded me about the new Lucinda Williams album which I forgot was coming. A quick tool around the forums brings up a lot of very, very, very promising* info. It's called Little Honey and is set for October 14th.

The track list:

Real Love
Circles & X's
Tears Of Joy
Little Rock Star
Honey Bee
Well Well Well (with Charlie Louvin & Jim Lauderdale)
If Wishes Were Horses
Jailhouse Tears (with Elvis Costello)
Knowing
Heaven Blues
Rarity
Plan To Marry
It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock N' Roll)

This article:

Little Honey not only collects some of the leftover songs from West that didn't fit into that record's heavy themes of death and betrayal, but also includes some much older songs that never made it out of the studio such as the 23-year-old ballad 'Circles & Xs' and 'Well Well Well', a fresh recording of an old demo Lucinda cut for her 1992 album Sweet Old World.

Session photos.

A Rolling Stone update.

Paste Magazine: Lucinda/Elvis duet on "Jailhouse Tears" number five best ever country duets (!!!!).

This is one of those classic Lucinda Williams swampy country songs about missing a lover as he's gone off to jail that you don't think could get any better--then Elvis' voice pops up unmistakably. Too cool.

Potential album art on Amazon.

* ie. I might not hate it like West. ;-(

A new muxtape of female artists.

Under the Rug -- Nani Bregvadze Georgian singer big from 60s onwards in Soviet type places, lovely crisp but dramatic voice perfect for soppy Russian "romances." Here is my favourite song of hers, perhaps he most beloved but I don't have it on MP3: "Snegopad" ("Snowfall"). Fur coats and Aeroflot - so evocative!

Enta Omri -- Mahmoud Fadl with Salwa Abou Greisha Sudanese interpretations/hommages to the great Umm Kalthum. Enta Omri is "You Are My Life" in Arabic.

Stretch Out -- Sister Rosetta Tharpe with Marie Knight About 20 years earlier than the YouTube I posted earlier today but just as powerful.

Nobody Wants You When You're Down and Out -- Carrie Smith Carrie is a bit of a more obscure blues shouter but does not at all deserve to be. This is from 1977.

A Grand Night for Swinging -- Mary Lou Williams Great jazz composer/arranger/pianist.

Pace, Pace mio Dio - La forza del destino -- Maria Callas I only got this the other day. It makes me want to have a bath in the dark and have this drift in from the other room. Just me? OK.

High on a Mountain -- Ola Belle Reed Classic mountain music, she was part of the folk revival phase in the 60s.

Osain -- Merceditas Valdes A great name in Afro-Cuban music. I was a bit suss about the flute or whatever at the beginning but once she started singing I was hooked. On YouTube.

Nibari (My Grandchild) -- Umalali, The Garifuna Women's Project The Garifuna are a community of descendants of African slaves shipwrecked in Belize. The sadly late Andy Palacio brought the music to the world with Watina and this is the follow up.

Working on Beale Street and Crying -- Denise LaSalle Her speciality is NSFW blues which go from the risque to the downright obscene. Sadly, "Lick It Before You Stick It" is not on YouTube. This one is pretty safe except for some straight talk at the end.

I'm Through Trying to Prove My Love To You -- Millie Jackson She is new to me, this is from her best known album of cheating songs (side A from the POV of the wive, side B is the other woman). She can also cuss like a cussing thing and makes a lot of those worst album covers ever lists.

Cansada De Esperar - Angelica Maria Dunno anything about her but this is a cover of The Kinks' "Tired of Waiting."

for Monday morning uplift purposes.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

And a solo version of the same song.

Make sure you stick around for the guitar solo at about 1.40 but if Sister Rosetta can't hold your attention ... friend, this is not the blog for you!