Smithsonian Folkways Recordings has announced the acquisition of two west coast labels, Voyager Recordings and Bay Records, both now out of business, which had documented folk and fiddle music in northern California and the Pacific Northwest.
Anyone who followed bluegrass or old time music from the 1970s through the early 2000s should recognize some of the recordings covered in this acquisition. Kenny Hall and his Sweets Mill String Band are perhaps the only element that ties the two labels together, and a number of his projects are included. This new deal preserves and reissues a terrific catalogue of music from that era.
The Voyager label was run by Phil and Vivian Williams, and focused on the old time fiddle music of the Pacific Northwest. Vivian was a championship fiddler, and a mentor to many young artists coming up in and around Seattle. One such was Barbara Lamb, and the label’s first release was a twin fiddle project by the two of them. Many others feature Vivian’s fiddling.
Bay Records was formed to record Kenny Hall’s music, and also captured other timely albums from their base in northern California. Other notable projects include one for Frank Wakefield in 1980, The Good Ol’ Persons in 1977, and the Arkansas Sheiks in 1975.
Along with the announcement, Smithsonian Folkways has released more than two dozen titles from the Voyager and Bay catalogs for streaming and download purchase.
- VOY00316 – Vivian Williams and Barbara Lamb – Twin Sisters (1976)
- VOY00322 – Louis Boudreault – Old Time Fiddler of Chicoutimi, Quebec = Violoneux à l’ancienne mode de Chicoutimi, Québec (1977)
- VOY00323 – Vivian Williams – Fiddler (1978)
- VOY00325 – Marc Savoy, Dewey Balfa and D.L. Menard – Made in Louisiana (Cajun Accordion Music) (1976)
- VOY00328 – Kenny Hall – Kenny Hall and the Long Haul Sting Band (1980)
- VOY00332 – Tall Timber – Encore!! (1985)
- VOY00336 – Vivian Williams, Harley Bray, Phil Williams – Winter Moon (1989)
- VOY00341 – Joe Pancerzewski – Legendary Northwest Fiddler (1996)
- VYCD323 – Vivian Williams – Fiddler (1996 Edition) (1996)
- VOY00345 – Benny Thomasson – Say Old Man Can You Play the Fiddle (1999)
- VOY00347 – Vivian Williams, Phil Williams – Live! (2000)
- VOY00349 – Lee Stripling – Hogs Picking Up Acorns (2000)
- VOY00350 – Phil and Vivian Williams – Dance Music of the Oregon Trail (2000)
- VOY00351 – Vivian Williams – Waltzes (2001)
- VOY00358 – The New Columbia Fiddlers – Fiddle Tunes of the Lewis and Clark Era (2002)
- VOY00368 – Allen Hart – Old Time Banjo (2006)
- VOY00371 – Phil Williams and Vivian Williams – Pioneer Dance Tunes of the Far West (2006)
- VOY00373 – Vivian Williams and Phil Williams – Fiddling Down the Oregon Trail (2008)
- VOY00374 – Vivian Williams and Phil Williams – Tunes from the Peter Beemer Manuscript: Dance Music from an 1860’s Idaho Mining Camp (2009)
- VOY00375 – Vivian Williams; Terry Wergeland; Phil Williams – Tunes from the Haynes Family Manuscript (2011)
- VOY00380 – Vivian Williams; Calum MacKinnon – Tunes from the John Neilson Music Book (2016)
- VOY00383 – Vivian Williams; Sande Gillete; Karen Iglitzin – Tunes from the Aurora Violin Manuscripts (2019)
- BAY00727 – Kenny Hall and the Sweets Mill String Band – Kenny Hall and the Sweets Mill String Band (1972)
- BAY00102 – Otis Pierce – Every Bush and Tree (1975)
- BAY00204 – Arkansas Sheiks – Whiskey Before Breakfast (1975)
- BAY00103 – Kenny Hall and the Sweets Mill String Band – Kenny Hall and the Sweets Mill String Band, Volume 2 (1977)
- BAY00208 – The Good Ol’ Persons – California Old-Time Bluegrass Music (1977)
- BAY00216 – Faith Petric – self-titled (1979)
- BAY00303 – Hank Bradley – Music of the Poison Coyote Kid (1977)
- BAY00214 – Frank Wakefield – End of the Rainbow (1980)
- BAY00217 – Any Old Time String Band – Ladies Choice (1980)
- BAYCD727 – Kenny Hall and the Sweets Mill String Band – Kenny Hall and the Sweets Mill String Band [Vol 1 & 2] (2001)
Further details on individual albums, and purchase links for either standard or high-definition digital downloads, are available now online for both Voyager Recordings and Bay Records titles.
