Virginia Roots

(Washington, D.C.) Virginia Roots, a new limited-time, digital only compilation from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, is available now on select digital and mobile outlets worldwide in celebration of the 41st annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

Virginia Roots pays homage to the rich musical legacy of the Mid-Atlantic region, with a collection of 15 tracks from the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings archives. The album coincides with this year’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival celebrating the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, Virginia, which takes place on the National Mall of the United States in Washington DC from June 27 – July 1 and July 4 – July 8, 2007. The album can be purchased on URGE, Zune, Verizon, and Sprint music stores. See below for direct links.

Wade Ward and Glen Smith’s “Soldier’s Joy,” The Stanley Brothers “Rabbit in a Log,” and John Jackson’s “Railroad Bill” will be available for purchase as ringtones using SMS codes as outlined below or by visiting the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings or the Smithsonian Folklife Festival website. These three tracks serve as examples of the diversity covered on Virginia Roots as they span three decades from the 1930s to 1960s and cover musical territory from Appalachian to bluegrass to folk.

Text FOLK1 to 66555 starting June 26th to get "Soldier's Joy" by Wade Ward & Glen Smith as your ringtone!
Text FOLK2 to 66555 starting June 26th to get "Rabbit in a Log" by The Stanley Brothers as your ringtone!
Text FOLK3 to 66555 starting June 26th to get "Railroad Bill" by John Jackson as your ringtone!

Visit the digital and mobile outlets below to purchase Virginia Roots:
URGE: http://www.urge.com/launch/?section=albums&page=album&id=1601048&album=Virginia+Roots%253A+Smithsonian+Folklife+Festival+Celebrates+The+400th+Anniversary+Of+Jamestown
Zune: http://live.zune.net/ViewZuneRecommendation.aspx?type=albumID&id=1796632

Virginia Roots Track List:

1. Soldier's Joy - Wade Ward & Glen Smith
2. Coo Coo Bird - Rufus Kasey
3. Hard Times - The Stanley Brothers
4. Cricket on the Hearth - The Sunny Mountain Boys
5. Down South Blues - Dock Boggs
6. Railroad Bill - John Jackson
7. Rabbit in a Log - The Stanley Brothers
8. Claude Allen - Hobart Smith
9. Devilish Mary - Glen Neaves, Roscoe Russell, Ivor Melton
10. Clinch Mountain Breakdown - The Virginia Mountain Boys
11. In the Pines - Paul Clayton
12. John Henry - Kilby Snow
13. Bill Cheatham - Buddy Pendleton, The Stony Mountain Boys
14. New River Train - Hattie Stoneman & Ernest Stoneman
15. Sugar Baby - Dock Boggs

About Smithsonian Folkways Recordings:
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution, the national museum of the United States. 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. Our mission is the legacy of Moses Asch, who founded Folkways Records in 1948 to document "people's music," spoken word, instruction, and sounds from around the world. The Smithsonian acquired Folkways from the Asch estate in 1987, and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings has continued the Folkways commitment to cultural diversity, education, increased understanding, and lively engagement with the world of sound. www.folkways.si.edu

About Smithsonian Folklife Festival:
The Smithsonian Folklife Festival is an international exposition of living cultural heritage annually produced outdoors on the National Mall of the United States in Washington, D.C., by the Smithsonian Institution's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. The Festival takes place for two weeks every summer overlapping the Fourth of July holiday. It is an educational presentation that features community-based cultural exemplars. Free to the public, like other Smithsonian museums, each Festival typically draws more than one million visitors. www.folklife.si.edu