The Richmond Folk Festival Releases Compilation Album

“All Together Now” Captures 15 Years of Live Performances

Stephen Lecky (center) meets with Travis Robertson, Jesse Medaries, Dean Christesen and Brooks Daughtrey from Spacebomb Records

Stephen Lecky (center) meets with Travis Robertson, Jesse Medaries, Dean Christesen and Brooks Daughtrey from Spacebomb Records

The Richmond Folk Festival released a special compilation album celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Richmond Folk Festival. The record, titled All Together Now: 15 Years of the Richmond Folk Festival Live includes select tracks recorded live over the years since the National Folk Festival first came to Richmond in 2005. 

First track:

Second track:

Third track:

This special project is being undertaken in partnership with the National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) and Richmond-based Spacebomb Records. The full compilation album will be released on Oct 11, 2019, the first day of the Richmond Folk Festival. It will be available for purchase in multiple formats, including digital download, CD, standard black vinyl and even an orange and green tie-dyed pressed vinyl collector’s edition. All proceeds from sales of the album will go directly to support the free Richmond Folk Festival.

“We were absolutely floored when Spacebomb reached out to us about releasing a festival album,” said Venture Richmond Events’ Festival Director Stephen Lecky. “I have had the pleasure of working with them on various events like TEDxRVA and Fall Line Fest, but this is totally different than anything we have done before. It’s been a thrilling experience throughout, but it’s also an incredibly daunting task to curate a short list from the incredible live performances recorded at the Richmond Folk Festival over the years. We’re so grateful to our longtime partners at the NCTA for creating and maintaining the audio archive of live festival recordings, and for their thoughtful guidance on track selection. Spacebomb is assisting with graphic design, promotion and distribution.” 

 The Festival’s goal was to create a recording that would reflect both the diversity of musical traditions and the excellence of the artists presented at the annual festival, which embraces cultural expressions from across the nation and the world. NCTA Artistic Director Julia Olin undertook the task of searching through the over 1,300 hours of archived recordings to identify potential selections. “I must have been crazy,” said Olin. “There were so many magical live performances that I couldn’t resist pulling over eight hours of material ­– even though only a fraction of it could be included in this project. It was incredibly hard to choose; we wanted to share it all.” Richmond Folk Festival fans can download the single and order the record now or at any of these local record store locations: 

  • Plan 9

  • Deep Groove

  • Steady Sounds

  • 6131

  • Small Friend Records & Books

“Richmond’s musical footprint is growing both nationally and internationally and the Richmond Folk Festival is an important part of the city’s musical story,” Spacebomb Records CEO Ben Baldwin said. “We’re proud to be working with the Richmond Folk Festival to release an important musical document covering the first 15 years of the festival’s history.”

Artists on the special compilation album include:

1. Clinton Fearon and the Boogie Brown Band - Feel the Spirit

2. Lulo Reinhardt and Daniel Stelter - Swing 2012

3. Maggie Ingram & The Ingramettes - Family Prayer

4. Lunasa – Ryestraw (The New Day March/Reystraw/An Old Woman Would)

5. Nathalie Pires - Loucura (Madness)

6. The Holmes Brothers – Baby, What You Want Me To Do

7. Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band - Don't Ask Me Why

8. The Quebe Sisters – Speed the Plow Medley: Speed the Plow/The Maid Behind the Bar/Temerance Reel

9. Altai Kai - My Native Land, Altai

10. Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano - México Lindo/¡Viva México!

Bonus tracks sequence on CD (included with LP purchase as digital downloads):

11. Sona Jobarteh - Mamamuso

12. Dale Watson and His Lonestars - Real Country Song/Nashville Rash

13. Rare Essence - Overnight Scenario

14. BeauSoleil Trio - Le Sud de la Louisiane

15. Sammy Shelor and Kirk Sutphin - Angeline the Baker

16. Spanish Harlem Orchestra - Son de Corazón

About the Richmond Folk Festival

The Richmond Folk Festival is produced by Venture Richmond Events. One of Virginia's largest events, the Festival draws visitors from all over the country to downtown Richmond's historic riverfront. It is a FREE three-day event that got its start as the National Council for the Traditional Arts’ National Folk Festival, held in Richmond from 2005-2007. In the tradition of “The National," the Richmond Folk Festival features excellent performing groups representing a diverse array of cultural traditions on seven stages. The festival includes continuous music and dance performances, a Virginia Folklife Area featuring ongoing demonstrations, an interactive Family Area produced by the Children's Museum of Richmond, a folk art marketplace, regional and ethnic foods, festival merchandise and more. Additional information is available at www.richmondfolkfestival.org.

About the National Council for the Traditional Arts

A leading non-profit in the field, the National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA), is dedicated to the presentation and documentation of folk and traditional arts in the U.S. Stressing excellence and authenticity, the NCTA presents the nation’s finest traditional artists in major festivals, tours, concerts, workshops, demonstrations, exhibitions, media productions, school programs, cross-cultural exchanges, and other activities. It works in partnership with American communities to establish new, sustainable traditional arts events that deliver lasting social, cultural, and economic benefits. Over 7,000 hours of the NCTA’s archival audio recordings dating from the 1930s are permanently housed at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. The NCTA champions the interests of folk and traditional artists and organizations in the arena of public policy. http://ncta-usa.org

About Spacebomb Records:

Spacebomb Records is a record label based in Richmond, Virginia, having recently moved to its new home on South Robinson Street in January 2019. Spacebomb has grown into an internationally renowned music company working with and releasing music by artists such as Natalie Prass, Bedouine, Fruit Bats, Matthew E. White, Hiss Golden Messenger, Angelica Garcia, The Waterboys, Foxygen, Jackie Cohen, Sleepwalkers, Pure Bathing Culture, and many more. Spacebomb is best known for its unique house band set up, with the Spacebomb House Band, arrangers, and musicians being part of many of the label’s releases. Find out more about Spacebomb at www.spacebombrecords.com