The FolkScene Collection, Volume Two

“Listening to this CD is like stumbling into a coffeehouse where the heavyweights have taken over open mike night.” — The Boston Phoenix

The FolkScene Collection, Volume Two dives even deeper into the remarkable archives of FolkScene, the influential Southern California radio program that captured some of folk and roots music’s most exciting artists in intimate, live studio performances. Recorded during the 1970s, these sessions preserve artists at pivotal moments in their careers, offering an unfiltered glimpse of the music as it sounded before many of these performers became household names.

The collection boasts an extraordinary young Tom Waits, recorded live on the air in January 1975 performing his signature “The Heart of Saturday Night.” There is also the clear, spine-tingling voice of Vince Gill on “Good Woman’s Love,” captured in March 1978 during the early stages of his career. These performances are especially compelling because they retain the immediacy of the original broadcasts: voices, instruments, and personalities are placed front and center, creating the feeling of being in the room as the music was made.

Rather than presenting polished studio recordings, The FolkScene Collection, Volume Two celebrates the spontaneity and intimacy that made FolkScene such an important part of the folk community. The tracks were drawn from the show's extensive broadcast archives and carefully compiled to showcase both emerging talents and artists already making their mark. The result is part historical document, part time capsule, and part front-row seat to a remarkable period in American roots music.

For listeners interested in hearing how legendary artists sounded before fame and studio production transformed their careers, The FolkScene Collection, Volume Two offers an extraordinary opportunity to hear the music in its most immediate form—artists stepping up to the microphone, picking up their instruments, and letting the songs speak for themselves.