Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution, the national museum of the United States. We are part of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located in Washington, D.C. 

We are dedicated to supporting cultural diversity and increased understanding among peoples through the documentation, preservation, and dissemination of sound. We believe that musical and cultural diversity contributes to the vitality and quality of life throughout the world. Through the dissemination of audio recordings and educational materials we seek to strengthen people's engagement with their own cultural heritage and to enhance their awareness and appreciation of the cultural heritage of others.

The Smithsonian may archive materials posted on this website pursuant to its document retention policies. By posting content, you are giving the Smithsonian and those authorized by the Smithsonian permission to use or modify it for any educational, promotional, or other standard museum purpose, in media of all kinds whether now known or later developed. For more on the Smithsonian's terms of use and privacy policies visit: http://www.si.edu/termsofuse 

“The music is energetically grandiose, with choral and orchestral folk-rock evoking the classical origins of the concept album in oratorios and orchestral tone poems.”
-Mike Doherty, The National Post

“It’s almost as if there’s a common, explicable, perceivable bond between dystopian literature and music made about a dreary fucked-up future. Maybe there is. Or maybe Lakes of Canada stumbled upon something big here.”
-Dave Jaffer, The Huffington Post

“Turns out Lakes of Canada have fine tuned their sound, going for a huge gospel-folk-pop thing. It just might be the best music I have heard out of Montreal in years, and people are taking notice in a big way.”
-Two Way Monologues

Montreal-based Lakes of Canada was founded in 2010 by Jake Smith (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, percussion) and Conor O’Neil (drums, vocals) as a “Simon & Garfunkel”-esque folk-pop duo performing Smith’s songs at various cafés and bars around town. The past four years have seen Lakes experience a dramatic shift both in style and membership: with a heavier, indie-rock sound infused with gospel/soul influences, Lakes have added the likes of lead guitarist Tim Dobby, Sarah Morasse on keyboards, vocals, flute and harp, and, former Honheehonehee front-man Greg Halpin (guitar, bass, vocals, percussion). Lakes of Canada maintains their commitment to vocal harmony (around which the band was created), but with a rich instrumental complexity befitting a classically-trained group of musicians.

Having recently recorded their second full-length album (a concept album inspired by Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale”) at Breakglass Studios under the expert guidance of producer and Besnard Lakes frontman Jace Lasek, Lakes of Canada looks to build on their past successes, such as being voted #2 Best Local Folk Act, #2 Most Pretentious Local Act, and #10 Best Local Act in CULT Montreal’s “Best of Montreal 2014” reader’s poll, and winning the Greenland Productions award for “Best Band of the St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival” in 2012. They are currently in the process of preparing for the October 2015 launch of their Margaret Atwood inspired second album, “Transgressions”. Some notable past Lakes of Canada festival performances include: POP Montreal, Canadian Music Week, Festival Folk sur la Canal, St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival, and NXNE (among CBC’s picks of the festival).

Interested in licensing any music. Go to https://briangirleysound.squarespace.com/license-music/

“In equal measures intelligent, playful, ambitious and moving” (New York Times)—Resonant Bodies presents festivals of contemporary vocal music around the world. The Festival showcases "today’s most talented singers... seamlessly blend[ing] classical, avant-garde and indie-folk” (Feast of Music). Vocalists are invited to curate and perform in their own set, with no restrictions on repertoire, format, or style. This freedom gives each show a "happy zealousness, where the singers’ enthusiasm for their repertoire [is] contagious” (Sequenza 21).

Founded in 2013 and having "already made a valuable contribution to the city’s music scene” (New York Times), the Resonant Bodies Festival is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to hear virtuosic contemporary music vocalists perform cutting-edge repertoire. Thus far the festival has presented in NYC, Chicago, Melbourne, Sydney, and at Banff Centre (Canada) with future festivals in Los Angeles and beyond.

Our Mission

Resonant Bodies Festival supports the growth and evolution of contemporary vocal music and vocal artists. Our goals are to: 

Produce festivals of the highest caliber that are thrilling to artists and audience
Catalyze the creation of new vocal music 
Expand the audience for contemporary vocal music
Challenge and transform the role of the vocal recitalist
Bring together a global network of contemporary vocalists
Create and archive media resources to better connect contemporary vocal music audiences, performers, and composers.

Jazz bassist and composer working between Addis Ababa Ethiopia and New York City.

For nearly 76 Trillion years this channel has given faithful service to the Young in Heart; and Time has been powerless to put its kindly philosophy out of fashion. To those of you who have been faithful to it in return ... and to the Young in Heart ... we dedicate this channel.   Best Regards and Well Wishes,  Yours Truly. ?

amcguiga is following