Our First 5 Questions!

Fortunately, we have our first 5 Questions interview, courtesy of Aaron Henkin host of the radio show and podcast titled Tapestry of the Times. Mr. Henkin works at WYPR, the NPR station in Baltimore. I have been listening to the show for about a year now and look forward to each episode. Mr. Henkin takes a theme each week and then scours the archives at Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, the recording division of the Smithsonian. Mr. Henkin graciously took a couple of moments to answer his 5 questions.

1. How much music is actually in the Folkways Collection?

It’s a pretty incredible archive that spans 60+ years. There are more than 3,000 releases – folk, blues, jazz, world music, children’s music, poetry, historic speeches. As a listener, I’ve barely scratched the surface.

2. How did this project get started?

I was a fan of the label and its mission, and I was riding in my car one day, listening to some Folkways tune or other, and I started wondering, “Has anyone ever talked to these guys about making a radio show out of their sound archive?” I work as a producer at WYPR public radio in Baltimore, and I ran the notion by my program director… he said, “Sure. Sounds like a great idea.” So then I got a meeting with the Smithsonian Folkways people, and they said, “Sure. Sounds like a great idea.” And we were off to the races! (I should say there is one other Smithsonian Folkways radio program in existence – it’s a really cool monthly show out of WAMU called ‘Sound Sessions.’

3. The Smithsonian, being the national museum of the United States is open to be visited by all. Can anyone have access to these recordings as well?

Good question. Although Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is nominally a ‘non-profit,’ it is actually run as a record label, so their existence relies on sales of CDs & downloads from the catalogue. Short answer: You gotta buy the music. But you can preview and sample everything in the archive online at: www.si.edu/folkways, and you can buy the music on a track-by-track basis. It’s a pretty incredible database they’ve got there on the site.

4. Are there any recording projects where Folkways are working with current artists?

Indeed. The catalogue continues to grow every year. Previously unreleased recordings are issued and compilations are made. And of course contemporary folk and world musicians are recorded and issued frequently on the label. “Los Texmaniacs” is a great group that just came out with a release a few weeks ago, for example.

5. What are some of the themes for Tapestry coming in future episodes?

Ah… Where to begin? Star-crossed love… Revenge… Coal mine disasters… Outer space… You pick a topic, there’s a show worth of songs about it. In fact, I’d love to entertain ideas from anyone who’s got suggestions to share… just give me a holler!

Initial Post

I have been thinking of this for a while so we'll see how it goes. This blog will be based on this premise: If you had 5 minutes to ask questions to anyone you wanted, what would you ask them? I will be sending out invitations to many different people famous and not, and seeing what response I get. This is based somewhat on the brief weekly interviews in the New York Times Sunday magazine, except even shorter. All responses posted will be exactly as I recieve them in email as much as possible. I will also try to keep up with the list of invitiations sent as well. I invite any suggestions for people to interview and questions to ask.