In memory of the life of Levon Helm (1940-2012), this playlist explores the country- and blues-flavored roots rock of The Band. Each recording on this playlist features a performance by Robbie, Rick, Richard, Garth or Levon.
Developed by John Fahey and artists on his Takoma Records label, this finger-picking style of guitar playing combines country and blues techniques with neo-classical composition.
Bluegrass is a genre of country music that emerged from Appalachia in the 1940s as a faster, more complex take on traditional string band music. Listen to the songs that have helped define this rich, and surprisingly diverse, musical tradition.
Johnny Cash called the Bristol sessions of 1927 "the most important event in the history of country music." This open-mike recording session for Appalachia's "hillbilly" musicians was the commercial debut of Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family.
Dating back to 1930s, these are some of the earliest recordings of blues music. Though it had humble beginnings, the blues music of the Mississippi Delta paved the way for rock & roll.
Known as the "Motown of Jamaica," Trenchtown's Studio One was the vision of producer Clement "Coxsone" Dodd and the original home to a staggering array of artists like Bob Marley, The Skatalites, Toots & Maytals, Anton Ellis, and more.
In the 1970s a new genre of music emerged from Nigeria called afrobeat. Created by the legendary bandleader Fela Kuti, afrobeat combined funk, jazz and psychedelic rock with West African highlife music and politically-charged lyrics.
Whether they're jamming on extended improvisational solos, combining unlikely genres, or playing songs backwards, jam bands make innovative, risky, and unclassifiable music that'll never sound the same way twice.
Praise is at the heart of the south's black gospel tradition. Spirituals blend with blues and jazz, sung with soul as solos, trios, and quartets. Testify!
These are the women who wander freely through the worlds of folk, country, bluegrass, and other Americana styles, stirring up a sound that evokes an evening spent watching the sun go down on a rural back porch.
Long before the blues went electric and urban, these rural pioneers were laying down the foundations of the genre, usually with no more than a voice and acoustic guitar.
Go deeper into the chilly beauty, imagination and melancholy that's at the heart of Justin Vernon's music. Explore his influences, contemporaries and several of the artists Vernon (aka Bon Iver) has collaborated with.
Rest your weary heads, lovers of classic country music. Here's a host of old-school acoustic ballads, from the first wave of Nashville stars to the later artists who kept the classic country sound alive.
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