Folk Song America

Based on the six album boxed set of curated folk songs, created by Grammy-nominated folklorist Norm Cohen in 1990, for the Smithsonian.

Mid-Century Modern Music makes apps that allow you to discover, or rediscover, music from the Mid-Century Modern era. There’s a lot of classic folk albums available in Apple Music. So many that we were able to almost fully recreate the six album boxed set of albums put out by Grammy-nominated folklorist Norm Cohen in 1990, called "Folk Song America". This boxed set contained one hundred songs, and we've got them all. Each one annotated with information from Norm like; why they're important, how they came to be, where they came from, and who else covered them. Often this information includes links to other songs and albums, also included in the app.

An "Artists" section in the app, includes all the artists that sang on these important songs. And for each artist we've found more albums that you can listen to, biographical information, links to podcasts about the artists, and even links to Apple Books by or about the artists; some with sheet music so you can learn the songs yourself.

In total the app includes: Over 1,000 albums that you can listen to. - Sound like too many? Pete Seeger contributes 70 of those by himself! 94 artists pages with biographical information, as well as more songs, and albums to listen to. Links to 27 podcasts - Either about the artists, or featuring interviews with them. All of these free. Links to 84 Apple Books - Either about or by the artists featured in the app. Some are sheet music for piano and guitar. All available for purchase through Apple Books.

Now for the best news of all. The app is free.

But there’s a catch. What? You need an Apple Music subscription to play this music. So, if you have an Apple Music subscription already, you’re all set. The app is 100% free to you.

If you don’t have an Apple Music subscription yet, no problem. Inside the app, we'll launch Apple Music so you can get signed up, and if you’ve never signed up before, there’s a free trial period. So, you'll have a month to try Apple Music for free. If it's not for you, use the app for a month, and then cancel your Apple Music subscription, and pay nothing. There is never any charge for the app.

But you're going to love Apple Music. That's the point. And you'll be very surprised when you see how many of the albums you've owned and loved in your lifetime are available to listen to in Apple Music. There's a very good chance ALL of them are available.