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Sample Track 1:
"Andrew Bird's Irene Goodnight" from Live from Old Town School, Volume 3 - Trad Folk
Sample Track 2:
"Toumani Diabate's Jarabi" from Live from Old Town School, Volume 4 - World
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Feature

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Beehive Candy, Feature >>

Background: On December 13th, Chicago's Old Town School of Folk will release a vast collection of live recordings by the countless musicians who have played the venue over the last 50 plus years.  The collection's 127 tracks will be sold digitally on iTunes and Amazon.  Among others there are songs by Andrew Bird, Steve Earle, Toumani Diabate, Lila Downs and many more.  The release represents the best in folk/roots music, past and present.

On a stack of DATs in a shoebox lay the history of American music. There were local legends and major icons, global musicians and indie rockers. Some captured beautifully from the board, some gleaned quietly from the dusty archives of a radio station, the recordings held wildly creative decades of sound from Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music, a roots-music touchstone for nearly 55 years. And no one had heard them.

Joan Baez and Donovan, Big Bill Broonzy and Ella Jenkins, Pete Seeger and Taj Mahal, Martin Carthy and Steve Earle, Doc Watson and Mahalia Jackson: It was a literal who’s-who of folk, gospel, country, bluegrass, blues, and world music, caught in hours of exciting performances. But someone had to put the pieces together—all 127 tracks worth—and someone had to clear all the rights with 85 different artists.

They succeeded, against odds that would have stopped others in their tracks. Live From The Old Town School (Old Town School Recordings; release: December 13, 2011) reveals not only the venerable institution’s storied start, but its role in the recent infusion of new energy into the roots music world, with everyone from Toumani Diabate and Oumou Sangare to Andrew Bird and Lila Downs.

This crucial collection of rare live gems is available for download from iTunes, Amazon, and CD Baby, with most of the proceeds going to benefit the School’s educational work with children and adults. And though very diverse, the tracks share a common quality.

“These are all performers who know how to communicate with the audience in a very personal way,” says Colby Maddox, librarian/archivist and teacher at the Old Town School, who spearheaded the project and attracted support for it from the Donnelley Foundation. “They don’t need that distance, that huge arena. They want to get down close and make people happy. And they are all coming from well-established traditions, all different, but all strong.”

2011Candy Says: Where do you begin? It's a massive collection of music's history and Andrew Bird was chosen at random simply because I did not know who to choose from this phenomenal collection
 11/30/11 >> go there
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