North Carolina field recordings featured on new release

(Pictured above: Filmmaker, archivist and photographer John Cohen)

On Sep. 27, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings will release Dark Holler: Old Love Songs & Ballads, a collection of traditional North Carolina singing featuring Dillard Chandler and his peers from Madison Country, N.C.

A bonus DVD of John Cohen's 1973 film The End of an Old Song highlights Dillard Chandler's extraordinary life. All but one of the tracks are reissued here for the first time since their initial release on the original Folkways label.

These recordings—taken from several Folkways albums as well as John Cohen's films End of An Old Song and High Atmosphere, Dark Holler—include Dillard Chandler's version of "Cold Rain & Snow," later made famous by The Grateful Dead. "I Wish My Baby Was Born" was covered by Uncle Tupelo in 1992 and featured in the film Cold Mountain in 2003. The album also includes "Gastony Song," a variant on "Midnight Special," which was one of Lead Belly's signature songs, and "Little Farmer Boy," a variant on "House Carpenter," which was covered by Bob Dylan.

Track Listing:

Dillard Chandler
1. Carolina Lady
2. Soldier Traveling from the North
3. Sailor Being Tired
Dellie Norton
4. Young Emily
5. Pretty Fair Miss in Her Garden
6. When I Wore My Apron Low
Cass Wallin
7. Pretty Saro
8. Fine Sally
Lee Wallin
9. Neighbor Girl
10. Juba
Dillard Chandler
11. Cold Rain & Snow
12. Gathering Flowers
13. Gastony Song
Lisha Shelton
14. In Zepo Town
15. Don't You Remember
Dillard Chandler
16. Awake, Awake
17. Mathie Grove
George Landers
18. Scotland Man
Berzil Wallin
19. Love Has Brought Me to Despair
20. Johnny Doyle
Dillard Chandler
21. Short Time Here, Long Time Gone
22. Drunken Driver
23. Jesus Says Go
24. Meeting Is Over
25. Little Farmer Boy
26. I Wish My Baby Was Born