S/D: Tompkins Square Records

idgi, no guitar in this photo.
tbh, you're more likely to hear drummers than guitarists at tompkins sq pk

i like just kind of hanging out near dog parks, watchin the dogs, getting dog envy.

2013 Daniel bachman album is A+, thanks for pointing me to it ILX!

George "Smoke" Dawson played banjo in MacGrundy's Old-Timey Wool Thumpers with Peter Stampfel (later of Holy Modal Rounders) in 1960, lived for years at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY, and roamed around the US as an itinerant bagpipe and fiddle player for decades. His life is laced with small triumphs, and lots of tragedy. But he's still with us. Tompkins Square reissues his only album, a remarkable 1971 private press LP, on August 19th, 2014. LP/CD/DL

Excerpted notes by reissue producer / Tompkins Square label owner Josh Rosenthal :

I was doing some research for a box set of music recorded at Caffe Lena, the hallowed folk music venue located in Saratoga Springs, NY, when I came upon a photograph of a musician I didn't recognize. He looked like a sixth member of The Band - a handsome fiddler with wax moustache, goatee, black Western hat. There was a traditional air to him, a seriousness, but there was also something wild there. I needed to know who he was, and everything about him. The producers told me his name was Smoke Dawson, and they had tape on him. We listened, and his live version of "Devil's Dream" made it onto the box set. Then I started digging. I found a 1996 blog post from someone named Oliver Seeler, who claimed to have recorded a solo album by Dawson in 1971. I called the number on the site, not expecting much from an 18 year old blog post. But he picked up. He gave me background on the record. And, he gave me Smoke Dawson's phone number . . .

SMOKE DAWSON 'FIDDLE' AVAILABLE AUGUST 19TH
CD : TSQ 5036 / LP : TSQ 5043
Distributed BY INgrooves in NA, Cargo UK for Europe

HEAR / POST A TRACK

https://soundcloud.com/tompkinssquare/connaughtmans-rambles-devils-dream-marche-venerie

AMES BLACKSHAW RELEASES 'FANTôMAS : LE FAUX MAGISTRAT' ON TOMPKINS SQUARE, JULY 8th
Live album features Simon Scott (Slowdive), Duane Pitre

In celebration of the centenary of Louis Feuillade's Fantômas silent film series, James Blackshaw was invited by Yann Tiersen to perform a live score to the fifth and final film, Le Faux Magistrat, at the beautiful and prestigious surroundings of the Théâtre de Châtelet, Paris on October 31st 2013.

Fantômas - a master of disguise and symbol of terror - is one of the most popular characters in French crime fiction, as well as a favourite with the avant-garde, particularly the surrealists.

Tim Hecker, Amiina, Yann Tiersen and Loney Dear also performed during the event (which was broadcast live on the European ARTE channel) each bringing their own unique sonic perspective to the other installments in the series.

Written during the course of a few months, Blackshaw drew influences from French impressionist composers, Brazillian guitar music, musique concrete and the works of other film composer such as David Shire and Pino Donaggio, to create a noirish score that is in turns sinister, quietly profound and thrilling.

Personally invited by James Blackshaw, experimental musicians Duane Pitre and Simon Scott (also of Slowdive) contributed drums, electronics, synth, bowed guitar, bass and more to Blackshaw's nylon string guitar and grand piano, with multi-instrumentalist Charlotte Glasson adding violin, vibraphone and several wind instruments to the 75 minute long work.

Available worldwide July 8th
CD : TSQ 5012 / 2LP : TSQ 5029
Digitally Distributed Worldwide by INgrooves
Distributed by INgrooves for North America, Cargo UK for Europe, Rocket for Australia

James Blackshaw on Tompkins Square :
The Cloud Of Unknowing - TSQ 1967
Litany Of Echoes - TSQ 1738
Lost Prayers & Motionless Dances - TSQ 1851
Celeste - TSQ 1837
Sunshrine - TSQ 1844

Better late than never:

ALICE GERRARD'S 'FOLLOW THE MUSIC' OUT SEPT. 30
Produced by M.C. Taylor (Hiss Golden Messenger). Featuring members of Hiss Golden Messenger and Megafaun

"Alice Gerrard has one of those voices that harkens back to the likes of Sara and Maybelle. She is the real deal with the right stuff and hasn't forgotten where country music came from."
- Emmylou Harris (June, 2014)

** Alice Gerrard turns 80 tomorrow, July 8 ! **

The trailblazing folksinger famously collaborated with Hazel Dickens. Their classic recordings for Folkways and Rounder in the '60's and 70's "rank among the most influential recordings in folk music history," (All Music Guide), and laid the groundwork for many artists, especially female bluegrass and folk musicians.

'Follow The Music' features traditional tunes and original songs by Alice, produced by Hiss Golden Messenger's M.C. Taylor, and features members of Hiss Golden Messenger and Megafaun. Available on LP/CD/DL via Tompkins Square, September 30th, 2014.

Hear / post a track from 'Follow The Music' - "Boll Weevil"
https://soundcloud.com/tompkinssquare/boll-weevil-by-alice-gerrard

smoke dawson LP is sounding pretty wonderful...

Nice vinyl sale & streams:

Smoke Dawson's 1971 private press LP "Fiddle" released today on LP/CD/DL !

George "Smoke" Dawson played banjo in MacGrundy's Old-Timey Wool Thumpers with Peter Stampfel (later of Holy Modal Rounders) in 1960, lived for years at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY, and roamed around the US as an itinerant bagpipe and fiddle player for decades. His life is laced with small triumphs, and tragedy. Our reissue of his lone 1971 solo album, 'Fiddle', is out now.

To celebrate this release (and make you feel a little better about the end of summer) we're throwing a 25% OFF all VINYL sale. Now Thru August 31, buy two or more LP's off our site, we'll paypal you back the discount. Every purchase of Smoke Dawson will automatically be entered to win a signed copy (pictured below), of which there are only two in the Universe.

Sample our music via Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/tompkinssquare

Loving that Smoke opener and a couple more; will have to adjust to others (used to more of a combo w this kind of instrumental music). This just in:

'Get In Union : Bessie Jones with the Georgia Sea Island Singers and Others' - 2CD set out on Tompkins Square, October 28th

* Produced by Grammy-nominated Curator of the Alan Lomax Archive, Nathan Salsburg
* Features 26 previously unreleased tracks. Unheard collaborations with Rev. Gary Davis, Sweet Papa Stovepipe, Mable Hillery, and others.
* Remastered from Lomax's original tapes

Bessie Jones was one of the most popular performers on the 1960s and '70s folk circuit, appearing-usually at the helm of the Georgia Sea Island Singers-at colleges, festivals, the Poor People's March on Washington, and Jimmy Carter's inauguration. "Get In Union" is a collection of her classic recordings with the Singers, combined with many previously unavailable solo and small-group performances captured by Alan Lomax between 1959 and 1966.

Alan Lomax first visited the Georgia Sea Island of St. Simons in June of 1935 with folklorist Mary Elizabeth Barnicle and author Zora Neale Hurston. There they met the remarkable Spiritual Singers Society of Coastal Georgia, as the group was then called, and recorded several hours of their songs and dances for the Library of Congress. Returning 25 years later, Lomax found that the Singers were still active, and had been enriched by the addition of Bessie Jones, a South Georgia native with a massive collection of songs going back to the slavery era. Over the next several years, Lomax and Jones worked together to present, promote, and teach Southern black folk song across the country, from nightclubs to elementary schools. "Get In Union" features freshly remastered audio from 24-bit digital transfers of Lomax's original tapes and notes by the Alan Lomax Archive's Nathan Salsburg and Anna Lomax Wood, who accompanied her father on his 1960 recordings of Bessie Jones and the Georgia Sea Island Singers.

HEAR / SHARE a track: https://soundcloud.com/tompkinssquare/get-in-union

Get In Union : Bessie Jones With The Georgia Sea Island Singers and Others
TSQ 5074 2CD Set Available October 28th on Tompkins Square
Distributed in NA by INgrooves. Cargo UK for Europe. Planet for Australia.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recent : Smoke Dawson 'Fiddle' / Alice Gerrard 'Follow The Music' / James Blackshaw 'Fantomas : Le Faux Magistrat

Tompkins Square To Release 'When I Reach That Heavenly Shore : Unearthly Black Gospel, 1926-1936' 3CD/3LP Set, DECEMBER 9th, 2014
Produced by 7-Time Grammy nominee Christopher King

Among the most powerful music to be captured on 78 rpm in America during the 1920s & 1930s are those recordings of black sanctified and gospel singing. Ranging from plaintive mourning to unbridled ecstasy, the sacred music from this time period represents a flowering of diverse and idiosyncratic rural songs styles. At no time was there a wider panorama of religious songs in America.

Selected exclusively from Christopher King's private collection, the 78s included here represent the most unhinged, the most compelling survey of pre-war black gospel. Of the 42 tracks in this 3CD/3LP collection, 34 have never been reissued until now. The complete recorded output of the Primitive Baptist Choir of North Carolina is also included in this collection for the first time. Several rare & previously unissued photographs are also contained within. Lovingly and respectfully designed by Susan Archie and firmly grounded in Scripture by Christopher King.

Tompkins Square has been steadily mining the history of black gospel through previous collections - the Grammy-nominated 'He Is My Story : The Sanctified Soul of Arizona Dranes'; 'Fire In My Bones : Raw, Rare & Otherworldly African-American Gospel, 1944-2007'; 'This May Be My Last Time Singing : Raw African-American Gospel on 45RPM, 1957-1982' ; Bessie Jones - 'Get In Union'; and 'I Heard The Angels Singing : Electrifying Black Gospel from the Nashboro Label, 1951-1983'.
Stream/Post track from Soundcloud:
https://soundcloud.com/tompkinssquare/let-that-lie-alone-by-edward-w-clayborn

god bless tompkins square.

Oh yeah!

is this another mike mcgonigal joint? i still have a bad taste in my mouth from that guy's poaching other folks' comps.

oh wait, it's chris king.

i probably own 3/4 of this stuff already but what the hell. hard to fault this label. what what.

what was the prob w/ mcgonigal's comps? i hadn't heard anything about it, i don't think? love all of them.

if i'm not mistaken, he simply took the entire tracklist from a famed underground comp of memphis gospel and included it in one of his "own" comps w/o acknowledgment -- may even have taken the "masters" directly from the CDR as well (IIRC i put one of the CDs in my machine and it actually came up as the previous comp)

just kind of tacky is all

oh i missed this part

Of the 42 tracks in this 3CD/3LP collection, 34 have never been reissued until now

nice!

although i have such a surfeit of prewar african-american music that i've gotten kind of jaded about it.... i no longer get a big pang of excitement when i find out about some new collection or even new 78 being discovered.

:(

aww don't be sad. i might not be as immersed in all of this as you, so i'm still finding plenty of exciting old stuff. did you check out that alexis zoumbas thing (also a christopher king project) from earlier this year? amazing.

i'm not so immersed in it these days. mostly listening to japanese pop music from the 1980s.

Not seeing the song listings, but this is a reliable guy, judging by his T. Square track record:

http://www.tompkinssquare.com/images/TSQ2486_SeanSmith_Christmas.mini.jpg

Sean Smith - Christmas

Accomplished Bay Area guitarist Sean Smith has released several albums under his own name, and has produced and contributed to the compilations 'Berkeley Guitar' (TSQ5252, TSQLP5252) and 'Beyond Berkeley Guitar' (TSQ2394).

'Christmas', is a gorgeous contemporary acoustic guitar recording featuring fourteen well-known Christmas classics and two Sean Smith originals. Considering the vast amount of syrupy instrumental music in this genre, "Christmas' is a most welcome holiday album, and one which could well become a classic for many years to come.

Nice, he's great

Tweeted these:
Alice Gerrard, Follow The Music: Strong subtle vox, smokey mountain ballads: most brush by, eerie & beguiling, others hover, waiting 4 train

She ain't no wood nymph tho:

Alice Gerrard, Follow The Music cont: trad & originals, 0 twang or trills needed. Fiddle, acapella, dobro, ragtonk, whatever's right 4 song. Hiss Golden Messenger produces good.

TOMPKINS SQUARE RELEASES THE 7th INSTALLMENT OF 'IMAGINATIONAL ANTHEM', THE ACCLAIMED ACOUSTIC GUITAR SERIES, FEBRUARY 17, 2015

HEAR / POST "Trees Return To Soil" by Slowdive's Simon Scott
https://soundcloud.com/tompkinssquare/trees-return-to-soil-by-simon-scott

Tompkins Square's very first release was 'Imaginational Anthem Vol. One' in 2005, featuring American Primitive guitar pioneers like Sandy Bull, Harry Taussig, Max Ochs, Steve Mann and Suni McGrath paired with new jack players like Jack Rose, Brad Barr (Barr Brothers), and Kaki King. The album received wide praise via Rolling Stone, NPR and MOJO, who called the album "Groundbreaking." The pairing of old and new would continue through vols. 1-3. The first three volumes were collected as a box set. Volumes four and five focused solely on all new players, and gave many folks their first taste of Chris Forsyth, Steve Gunn, William Tyler and Daniel Bachman. The first five volumes were collected in a box set, along with a bonus live disc by William Tyler. 'Imaginational Anthem Volume 6 : Origins of American Primitive Guitar' stretched the timeline all the way back to the first recorded solo acoustic guitar performances of the 20's & 30's. Artists like Sylvester Weaver, Sam McGee, Riley Puckett and Lemeul Turner created the template for John Fahey, and all who followed.

'Imaginational Anthem Vol. 7' is compiled by 20 year old guitarist Hayden Pedigo, from Albuquerque, NM. Hayden has recently been featured in Vogue and The FADER
behind his own recent album release, 'Five Steps'. Hayden's selections represent a mature and balanced cross-section across the modern solo acoustic guitar spectrum. As with previous volumes, this one truly represents the state of the art - an area of evolving musical expression that is very vibrant and healthy indeed.

Tompkins Square's entire catalog, including all six volumes of the Imaginational Anthem series and two IA box sets, on sale thru Dec. 15th

Track Listing :

1.On a Slow Passing Through a Ghost Town-Chuck Johnson
2.Culverts-Sean Proper
3.Enchiridion-Norberto Lobo
4.Trees Return to Soil-Simon Scott
5.Sea Retreat-DBH
6.Araucaria-Jordan Norton
7.The Great North American Wilderness-Kyle Fosburgh
8.Something, or Oil Paintings-Christoph Bruhn
9.USA Self-Michael Vallera
10.Red Bud Valley-Dylan Golden Aycock
11.0/3-M.Mucci
12.Shadow Study at 6 am-Mariano Rodriguez
13.Olympic Peninsula Blues-Andrew Weathers
14.My Grandfather's 12 Gauge-Wes Tirey

TSQ5104 Distributed by INgrooves for NA, Cargo UK for Europe

More News :
* We now have a shopping cart on our website to facilitate multiple holiday purchases. Hallelujah !
* Alice Gerrard has received a Grammy nomination for 'Follow The Music', Best Folk Album. Her first nom, the 7th for Tompkins Square.

The previously mentioned Get In Union, by Bessie Jones and the Georgia Sea Island Singers, covers a fair amount of ground (and sea)(and sky, at all times). Work songs, play songs, several kinds of play, and Bible songs: don't know how these last relate to the mainstream of spirituals---pretty sure they go back past what music historians designate as gospel, for the most part. But they are visions, scenes, stories from the Bible, as lived---some levels in there, like maybe if you wanted to add more of the black experience to Divided & United: Songs of the Civil War. Or your own start-from-scratch mixes: there's a lot of lilt, roll, strictness and flexibility. And speaking of living, the title track is one of those with acerbic comments on behavior/attitudes in the congregation (not that some of the play songs aren't uppity; life on islands might get crowded).
Sometimes compelling, rarely less than charming (I'd say "never less," but my attention does wander sometimes, when lyrics and performances get too much like lessons).

"ONCE AGAIN, THE GREATEST THING GOING IN ACOUSTIC GUITAR" - THE FADER

'IMAGINATIONAL ANTHEM VOL. 7' IS HERE !

*** GET CAUGHT UP ! ALL 7 VOLUMES OF IMAGINATIONAL ANTHEM (PLUS A LIVE WILLIAM TYLER BONUS DISC) FOR ONE LOW PRICE, THRU MARCH 1. *** CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS
http://www.tompkinssquare.com/

LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE ALBUM VIA
THE FADERhttp://www.thefader.com/2015/01/30/im-never-going-to-stop-listening-to-imaginational-anthem-vol-7
FRETBOARD JOURNALhttp://www.fretboardjournal.com/audio/album-stream-imaginational-anthem-volume-7
or
RELIX http://www.relix.com/media/audio/album_premiere_imaginational_anthem_vol_7

Tompkins Square's very first release was 'Imaginational Anthem Vol. One' in 2005, featuring American Primitive guitar pioneers like Sandy Bull, Harry Taussig, Max Ochs, Steve Mann and Suni McGrath, alongside new jack players like Jack Rose, Brad Barr (Barr Brothers), and Kaki King. The album received wide praise via Rolling Stone, NPR and MOJO, who called the album "Groundbreaking." The pairing of old and new would continue through vols. 1-3. The first three volumes are collected as a box set. Volumes four and five focused solely on all new players, giving many folks their first taste of Chris Forsyth, Steve Gunn, William Tyler and Daniel Bachman. The first five volumes were collected in a box set, along with a bonus live disc by William Tyler. 'Imaginational Anthem Volume 6 : Origins of American Primitive Guitar' stretched the timeline all the way back to the first recorded solo acoustic guitar performances of the 20's & 30's. Artists like Sylvester Weaver, Sam McGee, Riley Puckett and Lemeul Turner created the template for John Fahey, and all who followed.

'Imaginational Anthem Vol. 7' is compiled by 20 year old guitarist Hayden Pedigo, from Amarillo, TX. Hayden has recently been featured in Vogue and The FADER behind his own recent album release, 'Five Steps'. Hayden's curation represents a balanced cross-section across the modern solo acoustic guitar spectrum. Vol. 7 is also the most geographically diverse of all volumes in the series, with players hailing from Lisbon, Malta, South America and the UK as well as the US. As with previous volumes, this one truly represents the state of the art - an area of evolving musical expression that is very vibrant and healthy indeed.

TSQ5104

Dear Friend,

One of our favorite musicians, Harvey Mandel, celebrates his 70th birthday today, but it is not a happy one.

Tompkins Square's Josh Rosenthal wrote an Appreciation for Aquarium Drunkard.

If you are a media person, we hope you will pick up on this story.

Please read and share. Thank you !

Tompkins Square Label Covers Mandel's achievements and present plight with equal care---brace yourself, but it's worth reading, at the very least...http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2015/03/11/harvey-mandel-an-appreciation-on-his-70th-birthday/#more-43771

When I Reach That Heavenly Shore comp on vinyl for record store day!

REMEMBERING MOUNTAINS : UNHEARD SONGS BY KAREN DALTON
RELEASE DATE : MAY 26 ON LP/CD/DIGITAL

Karen Dalton (1937-1993) recorded two studio albums during her lifetime,
neither of which contain any songs she wrote. By the good graces of legendary
guitarist Peter Walker, who oversees Karen's Estate, we are gifted with these
lost lyrics, now given voice by other great women of song.

TRACK LIST :

1) REMEMBERING MOUNTAINS - SHARON VAN ETTEN
2) ALL THAT SHINES IS NOT TRUTH - PATTY GRIFFIN
3) THIS IS OUR LOVE - DIANE CLUCK
4) MY LOVE, MY LOVE - JULIA HOLTER
5) MET AN OLD FRIEND - LUCINDA WILLIAMS
6) SO LONG AGO AND FAR AWAY - MARISSA NADLER
7) BLUE NOTION - LAUREL HALO
8) FOR THE LOVE I'M IN - LARKIN GRIMM
9) DON'T MAKE IT EASY - ISOBEL CAMPBELL
10) AT LAST THE NIGHT HAS ENDED - TARA JANE O'NEIL
11) MET AN OLD FRIEND - JOSEPHINE FOSTER

AVAILABLE ON TOMPKINS SQUARE MAY 26
INgrooves in NA, Cargo UK for EU/UK
CD : TSQ 5173 / LP : TSQ 5180

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0ZlWK-b_KY

That's interesting that Peter Walker oversees her estate

Yeah, I wonder if that helped to get any or all of those singers on there: "Oh wow, the Rainy Day Raga dude has Karen Dalton lyrics for me--?!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDjaOSqxLos

i missed an appearance by him in minneapolis last year because i had to work, really sad about that

NPR has the Patty Griffin cut from that Dalton record streaming:

http://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2015/05/21/402031771/new-music-patty-griffin-records-lost-karen-dalton-song

Nice continuation of the soul/gospel sound she perfected on Impossible Dream/Downtown Church.

** TOMPKINS SQUARE SPRING SALE ! NOW THRU JUNE 1 **

FOR US CUSTOMERS : ALL SINGLE-DISC CATALOG CDs AND LPs ARE $9.99 ! (KAREN DALTON CD/LP NOT INCLUDED. BUY WHATEVER YOU LIKE, WE'LL PAYPAL BACK YOUR DISCOUNT)

FOR INT'L CUSTOMERS : BUY ANY FOUR OR MORE ITEMS ON THE SITE, GET $10 BACK VIA PAYPAL
(INCLUDES THE NEW KAREN DALTON CD/LP, IF YOU WANT IT)

GRAB LP's & CD's from Daniel Bachman, Tim Buckley, Ryley Walker, Peter Walker, Dino Valente, Charlie Louvin, Polk Miller, Hiss Golden Messenger, Max Ochs, Grammy-nominated Alice Gerrard, Imaginational Anthem guitar comps, more . . .

The tribute album is the more cohesive for the occasional startling turn, which always quickly turns out (or in) to be appropriate: there are ancient quests, clues, disturbances now as landmarks, back there---but mainly: long gone lovers over troubles, recalled and still savored. Avidly, baby. Which makes some of those (still) startling sounds in the Julia Holtzer track work, building and not disturbing the vibe. Must check out some more Holtzer. Some of it seems too obvious a folkie approach at first, but think it all works (maybe/maybe not the last two cuts, but they are the last two, in any case). Dang, Rainy Day Raga Walker done good! Wonder if he got any turn-downs or no-shows, as surely can happen on these things.

speaking of^ recently discovered that walker put out a small dalton memoir/collection of her writings & songs a few years ago, excerpts here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/KAREN-DALTON-Songs-Poems-Writings/dp/1939374006/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1434482425&sr=1-1

it's Holter, not Holtzer

Yep, Julia Shammas Holter, will check out more of her stuff. Lime, the CD booklet excerpts material from Walker's round-up of Dalton's writing, incl. his own intro: a memoir of their friendship, which lasted from 1961 'til 1993, the year of her death.

No Lime, that is (so bad with names today).

JOHN HULBURT - OPUS III - Out On Tompkins Square August 28, 2015

https://soundcloud.com/tompkinssquare/the-freak-on-the-black-harley

Guitarist and singer-songwriter Ryley Walker discovered the 1972 private press LP in a Chicago record store, loved what he heard, and teamed with Tompkins Square to produce the reissue.

John Hulburt (1947-2012) was a member of legendary mid-60's Chicago garage rock band The Knaves, whose records were recently reissued by Sundazed. Opus III showcases his exceptional talent on the acoustic guitar, proving somewhat of an anomaly in a city not known for its solo guitar recordings during this era.

Walker writes in his liner notes, "Solo acoustic guitar music was adopted by several in the Berkeley school and the ever expansive roots fanatics in the South, but here in the middle of the country with harsh winters and the landlocked prison of corn fields, it was almost destiny that the amplifier assault of electric blues and controlled chaos of dance music came from the South Side."

Opus III has another notable Chicago connection : It's one of the earliest studio credits for Styx and Ohio Players engineer / producer Barry Mraz. Styx's debut album would also be released in 1972.

The reissue of Opus III includes illuminating liner notes by John Hulburt's sister, Cynthia Fritz; The Knaves' Gene Lubin; and Ryley Walker, as well as vintage photographs.

'Opus III' Originally Released as Clarence Records CR-003, 1972
Recorded at Plynth Studios, Chicago February/March 1972
Engineer : Barry Mraz

PRODUCED FOR REISSUE BY RYLEY WALKER & JOSH ROSENTHAL

Available AUGUST 28, 2015
CD : TSQ 5159 / LP : TSQ 5166
INgrooves in NA, Cargo UK for Europe

tonight:

Tompkins Square ‏@tsq2 27m27 minutes ago

I'm live on @kzsu 6-9pm PST. Stream it :http://kzsu.stanford.edu/live/"> http://kzsu.stanford.edu/live/

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CJrDSQlUAAQxx4y.jpg

MICHAEL CHAPMAN RELEASES NEW ALBUM 'FISH'
AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE SEPTEMBER 25 ON TOMPKINS SQUARE LP/CD/DIG
CELEBRATING HIS 75th BIRTHDAY JAN 24, 2016
U.S. TOUR DATES WITH RYLEY WALKER
In recent years, the revered British guitarist and songwriter has seen his classic Harvest records from the 70's reissued by Light In the Attic, and he's toured with Bill Callahan, Kurt Vile, Thurston Moore and Bonnie "Prince" Billy. On the eve of the Fully Qualified Survivor's 75th birthday, 'Fish' finds Chapman vital as ever. Tompkins Square also released Chapman's 2010 double CD 'Trainsong : Guitar Compositions 1967-2010' and a tribute album, 'Oh Michael, Look What You've Done : Friends Play Michael Chapman' featuring Hiss Golden Messenger, William Tyler, Lucinda Williams and Thurston Moore among others.

"The footnotes and legends that line Chapman's 40-year career are the stuff of thick biographies and fireside storytelling sessions." - PITCHFORK

Chapman will appear at Tompkins Square label's 10th Anniversary Show
at Rough Trade in Brooklyn, NY on October 9th along with Peter Walker, Bob Brown and Ryley Walker. He will also play select dates on the East Coast with Ryley Walker:

10/08/15 North Bethesda, MD (USA) AMP
10/09/15 Brooklyn, NY (USA) Rough Trade
10/10/15 Portland, ME (USA) Waking Windows Music And Arts
10/11/15 Providence, RI (USA) Columbus Theater
10/13/15 Albany, NY (USA) The Low Beat
10/14/15 Northampton, MA (USA) Iron Horse Music Hall

MICHAEL CHAPMAN - FISH - CD: TSQ 5197 / LP : TSQ 5203

Speaking of that 10th Anniversary Show:
http://www.roughtradenyc.com/event/861695-tompkins-square-label-10th-brooklyn

http://cdn.ticketfly.com/i/00/01/62/04/17-elg.jpg

as announced upthread, garage rocker John Hurlburt made a solo acoustic LP, rediscovered/discovered by Ryley Walker, out now on TS; Stereogum compares the vibe to Nick Drake--I haven't had time to check it yet, but here tis, for the moment, on The Fretboard Journal's site:
http://www.fretboardjournal.com/audio/stream-john-hulburts-opus-iii

The Record Store of the Mind
A BOOK BY GRAMMY-NOMINATED PRODUCER AND TOMPKINS SQUARE LABEL FOUNDER JOSH ROSENTHAL
AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE OCTOBER 27th

"Josh Rosenthal is a record man's record man. He is also a musician's record man. He is in the line of Samuel Charters and Harry Smith. In this age where we have access to everything and know the value of nothing, musicians need people like Josh to hear them when no one else can."
- T Bone Burnett

Grammy-nominated producer and Tompkins Square label founder Josh Rosenthal presents his first book, The Record Store of the Mind. Part memoir, part "music criticism," the author ruminates over unsung musical heroes, reflects on thirty years of toil and fandom in the music business, and shamelessly lists some of the LPs in his record collection. Crackling with insightful untold stories, The Record Store of the Mind will surely delight and inspire passionate music lovers ... especially those who have spent way too many hours in record stores.

Celebrating ten years in 2015, Rosenthal's San Francisco-based independent record label Tompkins Square has received seven Grammy nominations and wide acclaim for its diverse catalog of new and archival recordings.

Digital pre-orders:
Kobo
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
iBooks

Paperback pre-order
http://www.tompkinssquare.com/therecordstoreofthemind.html
Book release events :
October 7 - WORD Books, Jersey City NJ (Q&A w/ Amanda Petrusich, author of Do Not Sell At Any Price)
October 17 - Aquarius Records, SF (Litquake Lit Crawl. Also Ann Magnuson)
November 15 - Book Soup, Los Angeles (Q&A w/ Pat Thomas, author of
Listen, Whitey !)
December 5 - Folk Arts Records, San Diego (plus Roscoe Holcomb record release)
(More events to come, check therecordstoreofthemind.com for updates)

Tompkins Square will celebrate its 10th Anniversary with a concert at Rough Trade in Brooklyn on October 9th with Ryley Walker, Peter Walker, Michael Chapman and Bob Brown. Tickets and info:
http://www.roughtradenyc.com/event/861695-tompkins-square-label-10th-brooklyn

'LEGENDS OF OLD -TIME MUSIC : FIFTY YEARS OF COUNTY RECORDS' - A 4-CD BOX SET AVAILABLE NOVEMBER 6, 2015
* Essential Traditional Americana
* 113 tracks. 30 Previously Unreleased.
* Co - produced by multiple Grammy-winner Christopher King

Tompkins Square invites you to check out the new box set from our friends at County Records. County has long been one of our favorite labels, so we are sharing their information with the press community in the hope that you will want to cover this monumental set. This treasure belongs in every traditional music fan's collection, right next to Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music.

'Legends of Old-Time Music' is a deluxe 4-CD box set containing one hundred thirteen old-time performances recorded for County Records from the 1960s to the 1990s.

Originally issued primarily on LP, most of these tracks have never been released on CD. Thirty of the tracks are previously unissued and heard for their very first time in this edition. Collected and recorded by Charlie Faurot, Bobby Fulcher, Rich Nevins, Barry Poss and others, these performances are among the very best old-time recordings made by "true-vine" musicians. Legendary performers include: John Ashby, E.C. Ball, Fred Cockerham, Kyle Creed, Tommy Jarrell, Clark Kessinger, Steve Ledford, Hiram Stamper, Wade Ward, Melvin Wine and many others.

This set contains a 28-page booklet with notes by Kinney Rorrer, annotations by the late Charlie Faurot and Kinney Rorrer, several
unpublished photos of musicians, and essays.

Ten Years of Tompkin Square---they've posted a playlist:
https://play.spotify.com/album/62O6ew7v2Z3qL2nK5SJCTn?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open

and a listening companion to the book Playground of the Mind:

https://play.spotify.com/user/tompkinssquare/playlist/6MNJ5c9qZb0ScEOcsQtXA5?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open

Such a great label wish I didn't hear so many bad things abt the dude that runs it

??

ROSCOE HOLCOMB
SAN DIEGO FOLK FESTIVAL 1972
LIMITED EDITION VINYL LP NOVEMBER 27th, 2015
CD & DIGITAL DECEMBER 4th, 2015

POST / SHARE A TRACK : "SINGLE GIRL"
https://soundcloud.com/tompkinssquare/single-girl-roscoe-holcomb

Tompkins Square label is proud to announce the release of the first commercially available full live concert recording of old-time legend Roscoe Holcomb. The vinyl LP will be released in limited quantity on Black Friday via independent record stores. The CD and digital versions will be available widely on December 4th.

Discovered by folklorist John Cohen in 1959 in East Kentucky, Roscoe Holcomb is among the most revered traditional musicians to emerge during the folk boom of the 60's. A favorite of Bob Dylan (who name-checked him in his 2014 MusiCares speech), Eric Clapton, and many others, Holcomb's high lonesome singing and driving banjo style can be heard on several classic Folkways recordings.

San Diego Folk Festival 1972 was recorded at the annual event produced by Lou Curtiss, who provides insightful notes on how the concert came together. John Cohen, author of 'The High Lonesome Sound' (Steidl) also contributes new notes to the set. Previously unseen photographs from the event were shot by Virginia Curtiss. Jean Ritchie duets with Holcomb on a beautiful eight-minute version of 'Wandering Boy'.

CD : TSQ 5210 / LP : TSQ 5227
Tompkins Square is distributed by INgrooves and REVOLVER in NA, Cargo UK for Europe

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5a/Roscoeholcomb.JPG

Awww <3

What were the stories he told?

He used a piece of a metal car jack as a slide for his playing of his lap steel and he talked about how he got it in in the '60s in Santa Fe, New Mexico where he also bought the lap steel for $35 from a pawnshop. He talked about his blues fave acts (Skip James, Blind Willie Johnson, & some others) and how one wasn't necessarily better than the other but all of his faves had a certain degree of greatness. He mentioned a poem by Proest he liked. He briefly mentioned his interest in ragas. Och's 85 now I think

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/2023/12/25/max-ochs-folk-blues-guitarist-profile/

Back in 2023 Max Ochs earlier mention the car jack item to then Washington Post critic Chris Richards. In case it's paywalled , here are some excerpts-

“It’s my most precious possession,” Max Ochs says as he retrieves a piece of broken metal from a guitar case — a scrap of trash he found on a dirt road in New Mexico in 1967 that he’s been toting around as a guitar slide for more than half a century. “The old cars were heavy, and they needed a really substantial car jack, and this piece had just broken off so beautifully,” he says, half smiling, fully aware that he’s holding his life’s essence in his palm.

...He once rubbed elbows with Bob Dylan and Richie Havens in the Greenwich Village folk scene of the 1960s, but as a recording artist, Ochs is better known for learning his instrument alongside John Fahey and Robbie Basho, fingerstyle guitarists who established their respective cults with clanging strings and twinkling melodies, creating their own rough starlight...

the only time Ochs mentions anything resembling ambition is when he describes the sacred teenage moment when he heard Elizabeth Cotten playing “Freight Train” on WETA. “It was that particular kind of Piedmont, double-thumb picking, and I just thought, ‘Man, if I could do that, I would never ask for anything more,’” Ochs says. “I couldn’t imagine anything better than being able to play ‘Freight Train.’”

...Ochs says he found one of his earliest guitar teachers, Harry Banks, hitchhiking on Ritchie Highway near Severna Park: “I said, ‘Where are you going?’ And he said, ‘Anna-no-place,’” Ochs recalls. “He lived in a trailer with a bulldog named Buttercup, so I brought him to my mom’s house in Annapolis and said, ‘Mom, this is Mr. Banks, and he’s going to play my guitar.’ Banks was like, ‘Do you have a knife?’ ‘Hey, Mom, can you give Mr. Banks a knife?’” Banks retuned Ochs’s Stella Harmony acoustic guitar, began to run the dull side of the utensil up and down the strings, and there, on his mother’s back porch, Ochs learned how to play the blues.“The slide is like a floating bridge,” Ochs says. “It holds the note in this liquid way. If you wiggle it a little, you get this rich, beautiful vibrato. And Harry Banks did it like second nature. … I was delighted. And I wanted it.”

He didn’t find much of it during his two years at Carleton College in Minnesota, but when Ochs transferred to the University of Maryland in 1960, he quickly fell in with a discerning crew of guitar enthusiasts that spectators dubbed “the blues mafia”: Fahey and his Takoma Records co-founder Ed Denson, folk scholar Dick Spottswood, legendary record collector Joe Bussard, and the guitarists Basho, Michael “Backwards Sam Firk” Stewart and Tom “Fang” Hoskins, among others. “I never could get a good blues name,” Ochs laments. “I called myself ‘Blind Lemon Pledge.’”

“I learned by watching,” he says. “It was something so primal. Primeval? It went deeper into my ears” — especially whenever Fahey was on the stage. “We already recognized that he was great,” Ochs says. “His foundation was Mississippi John Hurt, but then he was also like Erik Satie. He recognized some kind of pure beauty or simplicity in what he was doing by scraping away all the unnecessary stuff.”

Basho was more of a peer, or maybe even a rival. “He was Robbie Robinson back then,” Ochs says. “He was my roommate, and we were both desperately trying to learn how to double-thumb. He sweated a lot. He had beautiful golden-red hair in ringlets. … He had a deep hunger and was full of desires, but I didn’t realize what a genius he had in him. He took it to transcendental heights.” (Fahey, Basho and Ochs would reconvene on vinyl in 1967 with the release of “Contemporary Guitar — Spring ’67,” a compilation album on Takoma Records that secured Ochs’s spot in the American primitive canon.)

Ochs decided to change the scenery after a New York gig at the Bitter End where he played Sin-Killer Griffin’s “Wasn’t That a Mighty Storm.” He spotted Pete Seeger in the audience, singing along through a smile. At another show, at Gerdes Folk City, Bob Dylan bumped into Ochs at the bar and praised his rendition of Furry Lewis’s “I Will Turn Your Money Green.” Max Ochs says he first met the protest singer Phil Ochs at that same venue — and at a family funeral a few weeks later, he learned that they were cousins. (“Second cousins to the second power,” Max explains. “His grandfather and my grandfather were brothers. His grandmother and my grandmother were sisters. They were set up by a matchmaker and had a double wedding.”)

Settling into New York life, Ochs played in a psychedelic band called the Seventh Sons, jammed with David Crosby, even spent a night in jail with Ed Sanders of the Fugs after being arrested at a war protest. But the most important musical relationship he formed while living in New York was with Mississippi John Hurt, the touring blues legend who crashed at Ochs’s apartment so frequently that Hurt wrote a song about it: “Welcome Address,” later recorded as “Boys, You’re Welcome.” Ochs felt more like a student than a host: “He was so patient with me. I really wanted to learn ‘Frankie and Albert.’ ‘Could you just slow down and show me again?’ And it was like the transmission of the dharma!”

In 1966, Ochs hitchhiked to New Mexico and bopped around the West on spiritual quests and peyote trips, but by 1970, he was back in the Annapolis area, still playing music, but not as interested in recording it. “Realistically, I thought I was mediocre, not excellent,” Ochs says. “And in capitalism, everything becomes a competition, whether you like it or not. I wanted music to be a community, not a competition.”

I knew he and Phil were related but didn’t know the full story!

His foundation was Mississippi John Hurt, but then he was also like Erik Satie. He recognized some kind of pure beauty or simplicity in what he was doing by scraping away all the unnecessary stuff.”

about as good a description of John Fahey as I've ever read

But the most important musical relationship he formed while living in New York was with Mississippi John Hurt, the touring blues legend who crashed at Ochs’s apartment so frequently that Hurt wrote a song about it: “Welcome Address,” later recorded as “Boys, You’re Welcome.”But the most important musical relationship he formed while living in New York was with Mississippi John Hurt, the touring blues legend who crashed at Ochs’s apartment so frequently that Hurt wrote a song about it: “Welcome Address,” later recorded as “Boys, You’re Welcome.”

Gosh, this is one of my favorite songs ever, transcendentally beautiful -- I can't believe I never heard this story! awesome

Lovely, thanks. Max and Robbie are freely streaming on TS's v. generous Bandcamp, ditto recently posted:

Dead Stock Alert !

We are thrilled to offer one of our favorite private press guitar records ever - Scott Witte’s 'Sailors Dream.’

A rare and coveted 1980 LP, we have sealed copies and signed copies for sale. Limited !

Hardly strictly solo guitar, this album has cello, ethereal chorus, 12 string fantasias, funky breaks - it was even sampled by DJ Shadow !

From our 'Obscure Giants of Acoustic Guitar' card set :

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1958, Scott Witte began studying guitar at age eight. After playing electric guitar for several years, Scott fell under the spell of the Takoma Records stable of guitarists

Dick Spottswood & Tompkins Square Present ... 1925 Songs' - TSQ 4142 - Available June 19th
A New archival project !

Dick Spottswood is a legendary musicologist with deep knowledge of early jazz, blues, international, and vernacular American music from the first half of the 20th Century. He has contributed notes and transfers of records from his collection to hundreds of influential reissue albums on many labels over the decades. Spottswood teams up with Tompkins Square to offer a selective view ofour favorite 78 rpm sides from 1925, a pivotal year in the development of jazz, blues and early country music. Extensive notes by Grand Ole Opry archivist, guitarist and writer of books, Cameron Knowler. Digital restoration by Grammy-nominated mastering engineer Jessica Thompson. Design by Clay Conder.

June 18 record release event for the 1925 project @ Jalopy Theatre in Brooklyn with specials guests Terry Waldo, Cameron Knowler, Maisy Owen, Mason Lindahl, Eli Smith, Ryley Walker, Wall Matthews, Kinloch Nelson, Devon Flaherty & more!

89-years-old Spottswood used to have a public radio show in DC playing all kinds of old obscure stuff, so it makes sense he'd be doing this.

Looks like he still has an online radio show

https://bluegrasscountry.org/shows/the-dick-spottswood-show/

I miss the old WAMU

https://marisaanderson.bandcamp.com/album/the-anthology-of-unamerican-folk-music

Marissa Anderson's latest album The Anthology of UnAmerican Folk Music is getting lots of acclaim. It draws from per the Bandcamp page - the private record collection of the late Harry Smith. Assembled by Anderson after a chance encounter led to an opportunity to study and explore this treasure trove of music, the Anthology focuses on music from places that the United States has been in conflict with since 1970: Southeast Asia, the USSR and the Arabic and Islamic regions of the world

On first listen this is pleasant enough, but some cuts lose some of their connection to the music of the country of origin. Maybe I need to listen more.