Various Artists - Signature Sounds 20th Anniversary Collection (CD) |

Signature Sounds – the Americana and folk label that launched the careers of Josh Ritter and Lake Street Dive and sustained that of Chris Smither – will release Signature Sounds 20th Anniversary Collection: Rarities From The Second Decade on March 3rd. The compilation features thirteen unreleased tracks, eighteen tracks in total from the likes of Lake Street Dive, Crooked Still, Eilen Jewell, Chris Smither, and others. The label is coming off of the most successful year of its existence, which saw Lake Street Dive catapult to Billboard’s top 20 and become “this year’s best new band,” according to Rolling Stone. Entertainment Weekly recently said, “Folk music’s having a moment right now–maybe its biggest in decades” and Signature Sounds has helped fuel that trend. Tracks on the ‘20th Anniversary Collection’ draw on the rich strains of Americana music, country music, and folk music that have marked Signature Sounds’ entire oeuvre. Van Dyke Parks joins Jeffrey Foucault on “Real Love”; Parsonsfield’s version of the traditional song “Moonshiner” was recorded at Sam Kassirer’s Great Northern Sound Society (which has also been covered by Bob Dylan and Uncle Tupelo); Peter Mulvey covers Randy Newman’s “Lonely At The Top” while Eilen Jewell tackles “Why I’m Walkin’” (which was a #6 Billboard Country charting hit for Ernest Tubb in 1960 and which Elvis Costello and Loretta Lynn also recorded) and Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers interpret Dock Boggs’ “Country Blues,” which originally appeared on the Gold-certified, GRAMMY-winning Anthology of American Folk Music. Eilen Jewell’s barn-burning gospel band Sacred Shakers takes “Samson & Delilah” for a spin, which has also been performed by the Grateful Dead. These tracks are accompanied by strong originals by Lake Street Dive, indie folk band Winterpills, Chris Smither (who is celebrating his 50th anniversary in music this year), Kris Delmhorst (with Foucault backing her) and a hidden, bonus track by LakeStreet Dive.