One of the best places to find Old Time American Folk music and purchase records that have long since been out of print is the Smithsonian Institute.

Most American folk music of the 1950s and 1960s was released on one of two major labels: Vanguard Records and Folkways. Now the entire Folkways catalogue has been given to the Smithsonian Institute, which has made every track available as an individual download, at a price of 99 cents. Or, you can ask them to burn a CD of a particular record.

e.g. If you liked what you heard of Tom Paley on our site, then you can get his entire back catalogue from his days with the New Lost City Ramblers, from globalsound.org. - over twenty albums!

There are albums by Woody Guthrie, Jack Elliot, Cisco Houston, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Pete Seeger, the McGee Brothers... to name just the famous. Try searching on an individual song title, you might be surprised to find out how many people have recorded it!


If you're looking for more historical field recordings e.g. those collected by John and Alan Lomax and others try the American Library of Congress. Much of the Lomax collection can be purchased... or there are hundreds of pages of information which include music transcription and free audio tracks.

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