Browse by Label: TOMPKINS SQUARE

Artist:	LOUVIN, CHARLIE
Title:	Charlie Louvin
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 1042CD

"The term 'living legend' gets thrown around quite a bit, but it actually applies to Country Music Hall of Famer Charlie Louvin. Charlie Louvin's influence on country, alt-country, and their many sub-genres is incalculable. The unique harmonies and lyrical folk poetry of the Louvin Brothers ('among the top duos in country music history' --All Music Guide) have inspired countless covers of their songs by such artists as Johnny Cash, Gram Parsons, The Byrds, Emmylou Harris, Uncle Tupelo and the Raconteurs (with Jack White). Produced by Mark Nevers (Lambchop, Calexico, Candi Staton) and Charlie Louvin, the new album was recorded in Spring/Summer 2006 in Nashville. It features guest performances by Elvis Costello, Jeff Tweedy, Will Oldham, Tom T. Hall, George Jones, Bobby Bare Sr., Tift Merritt, Marty Stuart, David Kilgour, and members of Bright Eyes, Lambchop, Superchunk, Blanche and Clem Snide, among others. The album features several Louvin Brothers classics as well as country favorites first popularized by Jimmie Rodgers, The Delmore Brothers, The Carter Family, and The Monroe Brothers."

Artist:	OCHS, MAX
Title:	Hooray For Another Day
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 1059CD

"Max Ochs. Cousin of Phil Ochs. Poet. Schoolmate of John Fahey and Robbie Basho. Friend of Mississippi John Hurt and Skip James. Social activist. Takoma and Fonotone recording artist. Composer of the tune 'Imaginational Anthem.' Maryland's Max Ochs recorded two influential guitar pieces on a long out-of-print Takoma LP, Contemporary Guitar Spring '67, alongside tracks by John Fahey, Bukka White, Robbie Basho and Harry Taussig. Hooray For Another Day contains exciting new instrumental works from this American primitive master, including a new take on Fahey's arrangement of 'In Christ There Is No East or West.' The disc also contains several spoken word poems, one entitled 'Phil,' for Max's cousin, the late folk legend Phil Ochs. Max's tune 'Imaginational Anthem' inspired the guitar compilation series of the same name on Tompkins Square. This album is a stirring personal statement from an overlooked yet vital American artist."

Artist:	KIEFER & SHARRON KRAUS, CHRISTIAN
Title:	The Black Dove
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 1124CD

"The Black Dove is a collaborative project between two like-minded artists, Christian Kiefer and Sharron Kraus. Kiefer is a Sacramento-based singer/songwriter with several acclaimed concept records exploring the history of the American West, who has collaborated with members of Low, Wilco and The Band. Kraus is an English folksinger in the tradition of Sandy Denny, Linda Thompson and Anne Briggs, a dark folk troubadour whose debut album Beautiful Twisted made Rolling Stone's Top Critics' Albums for 2002. In creating The Black Dove, the two worked on songs and instrumentals based on the idea of love letters between two people, one the pursuer and one the pursued, one flesh and blood, the other a ghost. Kiefer's forest-bound Northern California studio was awash with mandolins, guitars, pump organ, tongue drums, and banjos. Blue jays squawked through the trees, the flies swarmed and buzzed, the wind whistled through the pine needles. The album is meant to be experienced as a sonic novel with each song or chapter referencing the text."

Artist:	VA
Title:	Imaginational Anthem Volume Two
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 1424CD

"Released in October 2005, Imaginational Anthem Volume One featured two generations of important acoustic guitarists, from John Fahey and Sandy Bull to Jack Rose and Kaki King. Volume Two expands and builds on this theme with 70+ more minutes of guitar magic -- all previously unreleased on CD in the US. 23-year old UK 12-string upstart James Blackshaw opens the record, while the late master Robbie Basho, a clear influence on Blackshaw's style, closes it. Basho's track is the only live recording by this groundbreaking guitarist ever released. Riches abound on Imaginational Anthem Vol Two, with new recordings by former Takoma roster alumni Peter Lang (who made an album with John Fahey and Leo Kottke), Billy Faier (an original Greenwich Village folkie whose late '50s Riverside records inspired a fellow crack banjo player, Steve Martin) and an archival home recording by Fred Gerlach (a favorite of Jimmy Page). The new breed is well-represented by fascinating figures of today -- Smith, Carter, Sparhawk, Kraus, Rose and Blackshaw. Legendary singer/songwriter Michael Chapman, whose first albums for the Harvest label in the '60s are now seeing the light again, contributes as well."

Artist:	TAUSSIG, HARRY
Title:	Fate Is Only Once
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 1523CD

"Released as a short-run private press LP in 1965, Fate Is Only Once has long been a coveted collectible among American Primitive guitar enthusiasts. The only other recorded work by Taussig surfaced on the out of-print Takoma LP Contemporary Guitar Spring '67alongside John Fahey, Robbie Basho, Max Ochs and Bukka White. 'Dorian Sonata' was recently featured on the acclaimed acoustic guitar compilation Imaginational Anthem Vol. 1, and now the album is here. remastered, with original liner notes and vintage photos. The album features takes on traditional tunes ('Dark Town Strutter's Ball', 'Revs Rag' and 'St. Louis Tickle'), expressive originals in the American primitive vein ('Blues For Zone VII', 'Dorian Sonata') and re-workings of songs popularized by Rev. Gary Davis and Elizabeth Cotten ('Baby Let Me Lay It On You/That'll Never Happen No More', 'Sugar Babe, Yoir Papa Cares For You.')The 'headiness' of the album is remarkable for a 1965 guitar recording. While many guitarists were still stuck in the stuffy, conservative world of 'folk", Taussig was mining spacier territory like his colleague John Fahey. The musical ideas on the album sound remarkably fresh 41 years later."

Artist:	VA
Title:	A Raga For Peter Walker
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 1622CD

"Guitarist Peter Walker came up in the Cambridge, MA and Greenwich Village folk scenes of the '60s. He recorded two albums for the Vanguard label in the late '60s. Their style can best be described as American folk raga. He studied with Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan, and was Dr. Timothy Leary's musical director, organizing music for his 'Celebrations.' His debut album from 1967, Rainy Day Raga, features one of the first studio appearances by jazz flautist Jeremy Steig, as well as guitarist Bruce Langhorne, who recorded with Bob Dylan and many others. It is a gentle and beautiful fusion of Eastern and Western musical traditions, and one of the earliest examples of a style introduced by Sandy Bull several years earlier. The second album, Second Poem to Karmela or Gypsies Are Important (1969) found Walker going even deeper into Indian instrumentation, playing sarod and sitar. The musicians Peter played with or was associated with during this time period include Lowell George, Sandy Bull, Fred Neil, Tim Hardin, Joan Baez, and many others. Peter Walker's first recordings in 37 years appear on A Raga For Peter Walker, which features four new tracks from Peter and original unreleased compositions by revered guitarists Steffen Basho-Junghans, Jack Rose, James Blackshaw, Greg Davis, Thurston Moore, and Shawn David McMillen. More a tip of the hat than a 'tribute' album, these players all share an appreciation for a musician whose small yet amazing body of work still resonates."

Artist:	MCMILLEN, SHAWN DAVID
Title:	Catfish
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 1721CD

"Guitarist and composer Shawn David McMillen is a native of the East Texas town of Lake Jackson, known as the 'Cancer Capitol of America' due to its large concentration of chemical plants. In the early '90s, Shawn met Tom and Christina Carter (Charlambides) -- now considered early pioneers of the present avant-folk movement -- as well as Heather Leigh Murray. Heather and Shawn moved to Galveston where she attended Texas A & M/Galveston while 'working at an animal clinic, recording music constantly and having cataclysmic experiences on acid together at the beach.' Shawn and Heather recorded as Ash Castles on the Ghost Coast. Catfish is acoustic-based only because Shawn had no electric guitar at the time. Other instruments include autoharp, Roland keyboard, Indian goat bell, Indonesian gongs, bowed electric bass, African kalimba (thumb piano) and shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute). Cited influences at the time include American Indian lore, music from the Middle East and India, Phil Yost, Robbie Basho and Malachi Favors. A recent Wire review noted that Catfish 'shares the peculiar sense of temporal and topographical resonance that exemplifies the soporific, glazed music created by artists from Texas. Though their music references psychedelia (a notionally placeless aesthetic), there is something very specific about the manifestations of place and space in Texas psych...'."

Artist:	WALKER, PETER
Title:	Echo Of My Soul
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 1752CD

"Peter Walker came up in the Cambridge, MA and Greenwich Village folk scenes of the '60s. He recorded two albums for the Vanguard label in the late '60s in a style best described as American folk-raga. He studied with Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan, and was Dr.Timothy Leary's musical director, organizing music for the LSD advocate's 'celebrations.' A Raga for Peter Walker was released by Tompkins Square in 2006, featuring four new tracks from Peter along with original, previously unreleased compositions by revered contemporary guitarists Steffen Basho-Junghans, James Blackshaw, Greg Davis, Shawn David McMillen, Thurston Moore, and Jack Rose. In recent years, Walker has developed an intense interest in flamenco guitar and, through regular trips to Spain, has been accepted into flamenco's exclusive musical elite. Peter states, 'the music on this CD was reviewed and acclaimed in Andalucia by some of the "old guard" who have encouraged its release. With its roots in ancient East Indian music, "flamenco" has influenced much of the world's music. These Spanish-inspired pieces reflect my passion for this musical rubric.' Maverick guitar master, Peter Walker's first album in 40 years!"

Artist:	BLACKSHAW, JAMES
Title:	Litany of Echoes
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 1783CD

"Initially inspired by the guitarists of the '60s Takoma label to teach himself fingerpicking, London-based musician James Blackshaw writes pieces primarily for solo 12-string guitar that share more in common with the minimalist works of composers such as Philip Glass, Steve Reich and Charlemagne Palestine, as well as French composers Claude Debussy and Erik Satie, than the blues/raga influence of his peers. Using drones, overtones and repeating patterns alongside a strong inclination for melody, Blackshaw creates instrumental music that is both intelligent, hypnotic and unashamedly sentimental. Litany of Echoes, Blackshaw's sixth studio album in five years, shows a more mature, focused and, on the whole, accessible approach to composition. While the album often feels darker and more introspective in nature than on previous releases, many of the songs have a huge-sounding, classical quality to them. With Blackshaw adding some glistening piano work for the first time and Fran Bury returning to play swarms of sweeping string parts for violin and viola, Litany of Echoes is a truly original, affecting and timeless album from a guitarist/composer coming into his own."

Artist:	BASHO, ROBBIE
Title:	Venus in Cancer
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 1820CD

The 1969 guitar classic, remastered from the original tapes. With new reflections by Will Ackerman, Max Ochs, Steffan Basho-Junghans, and Pete Townshend. "Robbie Basho released Venus in Cancer in 1969 on the Blue Thumb label. After five albums for the Takoma label in the '60s, Basho had cemented his reputation alongside John Fahey and Leo Kottke as one of the most brilliant guitarists of his generation. His wide range of musical influences from around the globe set him apart from other blues-based players, incorporating Arabic, Himalayan and Indian themes; Japanese and Chinese scales, and classical and European folk music. All are on magnificent display on this sprawling, spiritually-charged album. Released on CD for the very first time, the album has been remastered from the original tapes. The package includes original album artwork and new appreciations from Windham Hill label founder Will Ackerman, Basho college friend and fellow Takoma recording artists Max Ochs, German guitarist Steffen Basho-Junghans, and Pete Townshend of The Who. Twenty years since his death in 1986, Basho's legend continues to grow, having strongly influenced a new generation of guitarists including Jack Rose, Ben Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance) and James Blackshaw, among many others."

Artist:	BLACKSHAW, JAMES
Title:	Celeste
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 1837CD

Reissue of this 2004 album, originally issued as a CD-R on Celebrate Psi Phenomenon; half of this was also on the Bo Weavil Sunshine/Celeste LP in 2005. "Guitarist/composer James Blackshaw's 2007 Tompkins Square album, The Cloud of Unknowing, received 'Top 50 Albums of the Year' honors from Pitchfork and Wire magazine. Fresh off a U.S. and UK tour with Jose Gonzalez, and a bevy of year-end praise from the blogosphere to The New York Times, Tompkins Square reissues four catalog titles previously only available as tiny, limited edition CD-R pressings. 'Mr. Blackshaw plays 12-string acoustic guitar, picking endlessly circling, intertwining arpeggios: stately, tolling ones on the lower strings and faster ones, verging on tremolo, up above. Yet what usually emerges from the welter of notes is not bustle but tranquility. The music has the same contemplative scope that turns countless tiny daubs into a Monet water lily.' --Jon Pareles, The New York Times, Dec 31, 2007."

Artist:	BLACKSHAW, JAMES
Title:	Sunshrine
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 1844CD

Reissue of this November 2005 release (originally issued on Digitalis and Bo Weavil). "...Blackshaw has already mustered up enough talent on the guitar to put many more renowned acts to shame. His gorgeous finger picked melodies on 12-string guitar are incredibly affecting and a stark contrast to the ragas and ragtimes of peer Jack Rose. Instead of concentrating on replicating a specific era of music or showing his technical prowess, Blackshaw aims straight for the heart and listening to these two extended pieces is enough for you to be transported into another realm entirely. One of the standout releases in the now slightly bloated folk revival movement, Sunshrine is a real pleasure to listen to and should be wedged firmly into any self-respecting folk follower's CD shelf." --Boomkat

Artist:	BLACKSHAW, JAMES
Title:	Lost Prayers and Motionless Dances
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 1851CD

James Blackshaw's second release, originally recorded in October 2004 by John Hannon, NRS. Released as a CD-R on Digitalis December 2004. "An absolutely monumental recording, Lost Prayers and Motionless Dances re-examines many of the themes that were explored on Celeste and distills them into one brilliant 35-minute composition that is full of excitement and surprise. The piece begins with a harmonium drone and acoustic 12-string, tuned to the guitar-unfriendly C-F-C-F-C-F (I can't find any examples of this tuning being used elsewhere) and unfolds beautifully. Blackshaw moves effortlessly from Takoma-inspired picking into electroacoustic improvisation and concludes with 12-string, harmonium and ride cymbal falling into a blissed-out circular folk groove that is absolutely infectious." --Grown So Ugly.

Artist:	VA
Title:	People Take Warning! Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	3CD
Price:	$52.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 1875CD

...1913-1938. "Songs of death, destruction and disaster, recorded by black and white performers from the dawn of American roots recording are here, assembled together for the first time. Whether they document world-shattering events like the sinking of the Titanic or memorialize long-forgotten local murders or catastrophes, these 70 recordings -- over 30 never before reissued -- are audio messages in a bottle reflecting a lost world where age-old ballads rubbed up against songs inspired by the day's headlines. Featuring beautifully remastered recordings by the some of the cornerstones of American vernacular recording such as Charlie Patton, Ernest Stoneman, Furry Lewis, Charlie Poole and Uncle Dave Macon, these songs tell of life and death struggles forever immortalized on these rare and compelling 78 rpms. Produced and annotated by the Grammy-winning team of Christopher King and Henry 'Hank' Sapoznik with an introduction by Tom Waits, the accompanying 48-page 3CD anthology designed by Grammy award-winning Susan Archie brims with many eye-popping historic images never before reproduced."

Artist:	VA
Title:	Imaginational Anthem Vols. 1-3
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	3CD
Price:	$27.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 1899CD

"Imaginational Anthem Vols. 1-3 brings together all three volumes of the essential acoustic guitar series. Released in October 2005, Imaginational Anthem was featured on NPR's All Things Considered, and received 4 stars from Uncut ('Entrancing'), All Music Guide ('Masterful') and Mojo ('Groundbreaking'). Rolling Stone's David Fricke wrote, 'the history and beauty here speaks for themselves, at the perfect volume.' Jon Pareles wrote in The New York Times, 'old and new, the music meditates on blues, Appalachian music, raga and ragtime, and traditions are transfigured by a deep love for the sonority of the acoustic guitar.' Released in June 2006, Imaginational Anthem Volume 2 opened with the gorgeous 'River Of Heaven' by Tompkins Square recording artist James Blackshaw, and featured unreleased recordings by legends such as Michael Chapman, Fred Gerlach, Billy Faier, Peter Lang and Robbie Basho. The album was supported by a national Arthur Magazine-sponsored U.S. tour with Blackshaw, Sharron Kraus and Sean Smith. Pitchfork wrote, '[IA2] pairs some of the leading lights of the current avant-folk subculture with unearthed vintage folk rarities.' Tompkins Square has been steadily mining the genre known as 'American primitive guitar' with a string of acclaimed releases." Other artists include: Max Ochs, Brad Barr, Suni McGrath, Harris Newman, Harry Taussig, Jack Rose, Steve Mann, Glenn Jones, Gyan Riley & Terry Riley, Bern Nix, Bob Hadley, Janet Smith & Steve Mann, John Fahey, Kaki King, Sandy Bull, Jose Gonzalez, Jesse Sparhawk, Sean Smith, Christina Carter, Sharron Kraus, Richard Crandell, Ben Reynolds, Greg Davis, Nathan Salsburg, Steffen Basho-Junghans, Cian Nugent, Matt Baldwin, Mark Fosson, George Stavis, R. Keenan Lawler and Shawn David McMillen.

Artist:	VA
Title:	Imaginational Anthem Volume Three
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 1905CD

"I struggle to recall any recent comps that glide together as seamlessly as these Tompkins Square projects, and Volume Three is no exception. Contemplative, intricate, a simple but ornate school of folk that hangs effortlessly between the ancient and the avant-garde -- I could listen to this stuff all day." --John Mulvey, Uncut. "NYC's Tompkins Square label releases Imaginational Anthem Volume Three, the third in a series of compilations devoted to acoustic guitar mavericks past and present. As with Volumes 1 & 2, the 3rd volume features extraordinary young talents such as Cian Nugent (Ireland), Ben Reynolds (UK), and Shawn David McMillen (Austin, TX) alongside unsung heroes from decades past, such as banjo master George Stavis, who recorded an album for Vanguard in the '60s; Richard Crandell, whose rare private press works will hopefully now come to light; and Mark Fosson, whose lost 1977 Takoma album was recently issued." Other artists include: Greg Davis, Nathan Salsburg, Steffen Basho-Junghans, Matt Baldwin and R. Keenan Lawler.

Artist:	LOUVIN, CHARLIE
Title:	Live At Shake It Records
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 1912CD

"Country Music Hall of Fame legend Charlie Louvin co-wrote and recorded some of the most enduring country songs of all time with his brother Ira. Charlie recorded this live album in May 2007 during a non-stop tour in support of his acclaimed new album on Tompkins Square. In fact, this past year has seen the 80-year-old tour with Lucinda Williams, play major festivals like Bonnaroo, share bills with Ryan Adams and Neko Case, and release a video for the song 'Ira.' The Louvin Brothers songs featured on Charlie Louvin, and on this live CD, have been handed down by Gram Parsons, Johnny Cash, The Byrds, Emmylou Harris and Uncle Tupelo, and recently made it into live sets by the likes of Beck and Jack White. Charlie's influence on a new generation is clear. This live set captures Charlie at one of his many 'in store' appearances. It's a stripped-down field recording from a true living legend."

Artist:	MOORE, SPENCER
Title:	Spencer Moore
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.50
Catalog #:	TSQ 1950CD

"88 year-old country singer Spencer Moore played a tent show with the Carter Family in the '30s, and was recorded in 1959 by Alan Lomax, who called him 'as genuine as a rail fence.' This is his debut album. In our headlong rush into the age of iPods and laptops, it is reassuring to know that there are still people around like Spencer Moore. In a rustic mountain home perched on a green hillside of the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwest Virginia, Spencer Moore remains almost untouched by modernity. He provides his own entertainment on an acoustic guitar now a half-century old. Knowing between 500-600 songs by heart, he can sing you most any old-time song known in this part of the Blue Ridge. Born into a family of 11 children on February 7, 1919 in the northwestern corner of North Carolina, Spencer was introduced to old-time music early on. After the family moved across the mountains to Laurel Bloomery the Moore family was exposed to more old-time music via their neighbor, the blind fiddler and singer, G.B. Grayson. Spencer's father acquired a wind-up phonograph and records. Hearing records by the likes of Charlie Poole, Jimmie Rodgers , Riley Puckett and their neighbor, G.B. Grayson, stoked the fires of Spencer's love of old-time music that much more. A few dollars bought him a guitar from Sears and Roebuck via the mail. In 1933, at age 14, Spencer attended the famous Whitetop Mountain Folk Festival. There he heard Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt sing 'Three Little Babes,' an old British ballad also known as 'The Wife of Usher's Well.' By the late 1930s, Spencer and his brother Joe were performing publicly themselves as The Moore Brothers in the Delmore Brothers style. It was during this period that The Moores performed in a tent-show with The Carter Family. In 1959, famed folklorist Alan Lomax along with Shirley Collins came into the hills of southwest Virginia to collect Blue Ridge mountain music. Lomax recorded a number of pieces by Spencer including 'Jimmy Sutton' and 'The Girl I Left Behind.' The performances were released on Atlantic and Prestige Records. Spencer Moore is a living link to our musical past. He knew and played with The Carter Family, G. B. Grayson and Henry Whittier. Such links are becoming increasingly rare. He is a treasure we should cherish."

Artist:	BLAKE, RAN
Title:	All That Is Tied
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 1965CD

"Ran Blake recorded All That Is Tied, his 35th album, exactly 40 years since cutting his very first solo piano LP for the ESP label in 1965. Marking that anniversary, and his 70th birthday, the master pianist and composer revisits selections from his entire career, bringing new life to an extraordinary and unique body of work. A cult figure surrounded by the same mysterious aura that permeates the classic Film Noir scene which so inspire him, pianist/composer/educator Ran Blake has been one of improvised music's most respected and incomparable voices for more than 40 years. His noteworthy collaborators on record have included Anthony Braxton, Clifford Jordan, Steve Lacy, Jeanne Lee, and Houston Person among others, but his seminal solo recordings have always defined his discography and his career."

Artist:	BLACKSHAW, JAMES
Title:	The Cloud of Unknowing
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 1967CD

"When UK-native James Blackshaw plays his 12-string guitar, something spiritual takes place. Performing and recording since 2003, his name is frequently mentioned as one of the foremost modern solo acoustic guitarists. Now at the age of 25, Blackshaw, an untrained musician born and still residing in the suburban environs of Greater London, draws as much inspiration from early religious music, South-Asian folk music and composers such as Arvo Part, Simeon Ten Holt, Steve Reich and Charlemagne Palestine as he does from John Fahey, Robbie Basho and the early Takoma Records roster, constantly breaking boundaries in what could be conceived as a somewhat limited medium. In his part improvised and part written songs, Blackshaw makes expert use of Eastern and Western scales, chord changes reminiscent of European classical music and incredibly intricate fingerpicking patterns to make a sound that is both challengingly minimalist, yet warm and approachable to anybody who might hear it, with a rare sensitivity that conveys immense beauty, hope and sadness."

Artist:	BARR, BRAD
Title:	The Fall Apartment: Instrumental Guitar
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2011CD

"This is guitarist Brad Barr's solo debut, The Fall Apartment: Instrumental Guitar. As a member of Northeast-based band The Slip, Brad's guitar prowess has always been notable, but his true gifts and distinct musical voice are on full display throughout this solo guitar album. A heady set of original compositions is complimented by such diverse covers as Maria La O by legendary Cuban musician Ernesto Lecuona, Kurt Cobain's 'Heart Shaped Box,' and Le Trio Ferret's 'Gin Gin.' The introspective tone of the album recalls such autumnal, overlooked loner guitar gems as Lenny Breau's Cabin Fever or Richard Crandell's In The Flower Of Our Youth, while staking out a thoroughly modern approach to solo guitar here in the late '00s."

Artist:	MILLER & HIS OLD SOUTH QUARTETTE, POLK
Title:	Polk Miller & His Old South Quartette
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2028CD

"Historic recordings by Polk Miller and His Old South Quartette. These are some of the earliest sound recordings of African-Americans and whites making music together. Polk Miller was born James A. Miller near Burkeville in Prince Edward County, Virginia on August 2, 1844. He picked up the banjo early on and grew up learning the music of the slave quarters on a large Virginia plantation. In 1892, He created a traveling show, 'The old Virginia Plantation Negro" including banjo tunes, nostalgic dialect stories and a lecture, without resorting to farce or black-face. The show glorified the plantation music and important African-American spirituals that our young country was hungry for In the 'gay '90s.' Mark Twain, upon hearing Miller and his Quartette exclaimed, 'I think that Polk Miller, and his wonderful four, is about the only thing this country can furnish that is originally and utterly American.' It is in this historical context that Tompkins Square reissues a CD of seven 1909 Edison cylinder records And seven 1928 qrs/broadway disc recordings. The booklet includes photos and memorabilia with notes by African-American music scholar Doug Seroff. The CD package is designed by multiple Grammy Award nominee, Susan Archie."

Artist:	CRANDELL, RICHARD
Title:	In The Flower of Our Youth
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	LP
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2035LP

Reissue of this classic solo acoustic guitar album. "In The Flower of Our Youth, originally released on the private press label Cutthroat Records in 1980, was Richard Crandell's first LP. His tune 'Rebecca' was famously covered by admirer Leo Kottke on his Chewing Pine album. Crandell has gone on to record several other guitar albums, as well as two mbira recordings for John Zorn's Tzadik label. Crandell's music has recently been featured on Tompkins Square's Imaginational Anthem Vol. 3, as well as the guitar compilation Wayfaring Strangers: Guitar Soli."

Artist:	LOUVIN, CHARLIE
Title:	Steps To Heaven
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2059CD

"Features 10 traditional gospel classics including 2 Louvin Brothers songs. The release will be followed by Charlie Louvin Sings Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs. Both albums were produced, recorded and mixed by Mark Nevers (Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Andrew Bird, Bobby Bare Sr.). Instead of hanging back at age 81, Charlie has instead chosen to challenge himself. Steps To Heaven was recorded live with a gospel choir comprised of three sisters, journeyman gospel pianist Derrick Lee, and Chris Scruggs, adding doghouse bass and electric guitar. Louvin had never recorded with black gospel musicians before, and in doing so discovered a new musical path. Charlie remarks, 'I did things on the gospel record I had no idea I could do. I'd be thinking along the way, 'How can I do things I've never done before?' And I did it.' 2007 saw Louvin celebrate his 80th birthday amidst a swirl of activity around the release of his first studio album in ten years, Charlie Louvin. Grammy-nominated for 'Best Traditional Folk Album,' the disc features George Jones, Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, Will Oldham, and Elvis Costello, among others. Charlie toured and recorded with Lucinda Williams, made a video for the song 'Ira,' released a field recording of one of his many in-store performances, Live at Shake It Records, played over 100 concert dates sharing stages with Ryan Adams and Neko Case, appeared on giant festivals like Bonnaroo and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, and placed a medallion around Emmylou Harris' neck inducting her into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Charlie's self-titled album earned 4 out of 5 stars in Uncut and MOJO magazines, and sparked a bevy of great press and renewed interest in his fascinating career."

Artist:	BLAKE, RAN
Title:	Driftwoods
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2097CD

"Ran Blake is an iconoclast. Since his 1961 collaboration with Jeanne Lee on RCA, Ran Blake has released 35 albums on such labels as ESP, Soul Note, Arista and hatOLOGY. His 2006 album on Tompkins Square, All That Is Tied, received 4 stars in Downbeat and earned the top award for excellence in the 2007 Penguin Guide to Jazz. Penguin's editor Brian Morton and Wire Magazine hailed the record as a 'masterpiece.' For his new solo piano album, Driftwoods, Ran salutes his favorite singers, interpreting songs popularized by Billie Holiday, Mahalia Jackson, Hank Williams, Nat King Cole and more."

Artist:	WALKER, PETER
Title:	Long Lost Tapes 1970
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2103CD

Hi quality, previously unreleased recordings from 1970 from the great raga-guitarist, Peter Walker. Peter's group includes: Maruga Booker (trap and frame drums, bells), Perry Robinson (clarinet), Badal Roy (tablas), Rishi (bass), Mark Whitecage (flute and alto sax). "One cold late fall weekend I put a session together. I found housing for the out of town musicians and invited my friend Maruga Booker who came all the way from Detroit, Badal Roy and I had played together and he was available so he came up from New Jersey, the rest of the guys were already in Woodstock that week. It all came together at Levon Helm's house while Levon was away. I traded with Eddy Offord for the equipment rental and engineering, so in so many ways it was a classic 'Woodstock Production'. It was my last major effort before years of obscurity and remained in storage all these years. Josh Rosenthal encouraged me to dig it out and release it so here it is, I hope you like it." -- Peter Walker, Woodstock, NY, 2008

Artist:	LOUVIN, CHARLIE
Title:	Sings Murder Ballads And Disaster Songs
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2127CD

"Although some might be surprised by a thematic Charlie Louvin album dealing with death and despair, one needn't look any further than the very first Louvin Brothers album to find a connection. Tragic Songs of Life, released in 1956, is full of emotional songs detailing heartbreak, betrayal, violence and loss. Inspired by Tompkins Square's recent Grammy-nominated 3CD box set People Take Warning!, Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs, 1913-1938, Charlie reached back for a couple of songs from that first Louvin album, five songs from the box set, and assorted other choice picks to create a moving and sometimes raucous new take on traditional songs of tragedy. Liner notes by Holly George-Warren. Guests musicians include Andrew Bird and Chris Scruggs."

Artist:	A BROKEN CONSORT
Title:	Box Of Birch
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2134CD

"Richard Skelton is an artist from Lancashire in the UK. He started his Sustain-Release Private Press in 2005 as a commemorative tribute to his late wife Louise, with the intention of publishing her artwork alongside his own musical offerings. Since its inception, he has released a slew of raw, beautiful recordings presented in lovingly-assembled, individualized editions. Operating under a variety of guises, including Heidika, Carousell, Harlassen and Clouwbeck, Skelton creates powerful, instrumental music out of densely-layered acoustic guitar, bowed strings, piano, mandolin and accordion, often laced with delicate, shimmering percussion. The result is something utterly unique -- a music which is both life-affirming and yet etched with memory and loss, evoking equal parts Arvo P�rt and Ry Cooder, Nick Drake and Henryk G�recki. It is with A Broken Consort, perhaps, that Skelton most-assuredly draws these elements together, creating an ever-changing drift of rich textures and interleaved melody that effortlessly evokes the landscapes which inspired it. Box Of Birch, his second album in this guise, was originally published in a boxed edition that contained, among other things, birch twigs collected from the West Pennine Moors. For Skelton these things act as a synecdoche for the landscape itself, a physical connection to the places in which much of his music is recorded. In this new edition for Tompkins Square, Skelton has created an exclusive series of artworks which draw on the hidden histories of the English landscape, and their narratives of displacement and loss. The result is something which perfectly complements the music whilst adding another dimension, providing a fuller picture of the artist's vision."

Artist:	BUCKLEY, TIM
Title:	Live At The Folklore Center, NYC - March 6, 1967
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$16.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2189CD

"The unreleased recording was captured by folk impresario Izzy Young at his famed Folklore Center located at 321 Sixth Avenue, which served as a nexus for up-and-coming singer-songwriters during the folk boom of the late '60s. The entire night's concert, performed in front of about 35 people, is presented in its original running order of 16 songs, six of which are Tim Buckley compositions that have never appeared on any studio or live album. The CD package includes an unpublished interview with Buckley conducted by Izzy Young on March 17th & 18th, 1967, along with new notes from Young. The album was produced for release by Tompkins Square label's Josh Rosenthal, and mastered from the original tapes by Grammy-winning engineers Steve Rosenthal, Warren Russell-Smith and Jamie Howarth. Tim Buckley (1947-1975) was among the most adventurous and influential singer-songwriters of the '60s and '70s, releasing nine studio albums in his career. Buckley's music continues to deeply inspire new fans and artists with each passing year. Live at the Folklore Center, the earliest live recording among seven others commercially available, showcases Buckley in an intimate, solo acoustic setting, highlighting his magical guitar playing and soaring vocal style."

Artist:	RED FOX CHASERS, THE
Title:	I'm Going Down To North Carolina
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	2CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2219CD

The Complete Recordings of the Red Fox Chasers (1928-31). "The Red Fox Chasers, composed of neighbors Guy Brooks, Bob Cranford, Paul Miles and A.P. Thompson, recorded at the high water mark of the Golden Era of American Vernacular Music, 1928-1931. These recordings represent a unique and exciting blend of Appalachian fiddle tunes & ballads, popular tin pan alley songs & Victorian sentimental compositions. Hailing from north-west North Carolina, the group assimilated a 'Galax fiddle-sound' with an intricate three-finger banjo style that simultaneously evokes Da Costa Woltz's Southern Broadcasters and Charlie Poole. One of the more prolific groups to record during this era, the Red Fox Chasers' material was particularly well received in the Virginias and Carolinas. This collection is the first complete anthology of their work, with several of the tracks being reissued for the very first time. The Red Fox Chasers represent an idiosyncratic slice of early Appalachian music as it was captured commercially during the 1920s & 1930s. Painstakingly remastered by Grammy winner Christopher King. Designed by Grammy winner Susan Archie. Notes and annotations by the host of 'Back To The Blue Ridge,' Kinney Rorrer."

Artist:	REYNOLDS, BEN
Title:	How Day Earnt Its Night
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2226CD

"Ben Reynolds is an English solo steel string guitarist and songwriter. In his solo instrumental works he draws upon the vast well of musical inspiration native to the British Isles as well as that found across the Atlantic and beyond. Ben's 2008 recording Two Wings was released on Portland, Oregon label Strange Attractors Audio House and focuses upon sprawling, meditative improvisations and concludes with the track 'Here Toucheth Blues' which appeared on Tompkins Square's Imaginational Anthem Vol. 3 compilation. 2009 sees the release of Ben's second solo guitar full length How Day Earnt Its Night on Tompkins Square. This new recording consolidates his interest in British and American folk guitar traditions in concise and intensely melodic pieces as well as longer, expressionist improvisations. The intricacies of British guitar luminaries such as Bert Jansch and Davy Graham are found alongside the stark grandeur of John Fahey's 'American primitive guitar' stylings. Outside of Ben's solo work he is a member of Glasgow based songsters Trembling Bells whose debut album Carbeth is released on London label Honest Jon's."

Artist:	ST. JOHN, POWELL
Title:	On My Way To Houston
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2233CD

"Powell St. John cut his teeth at Austin's Threadgill's Bar, performing with Janis Joplin and Lanny Wiggins in a trio called The Waller Creek Boys. Later, in answer to a request for material from Tommy Hall of the 13th Floor Elevators, St. John wrote five songs for their two first albums. In the late '60s, Powell formed the blues/rock band Mother Earth with Tracy Nelson, releasing several albums on Mercury. Among the legendary musicians who have sung and recorded Powell's songs are Janis Joplin ('Bye, Bye Baby'), Boz Scaggs ('I'll Forever Sing'), Roky Erickson ('Right Track Now') and Doug Sahm ('You Don't Know'). The Texas Music Hall of Fame inducted Powell in 2005. On My Way to Houston was recorded in Oakland with members of Roky Erickson's former band, The Aliens, and features an unrecorded Roky composition, 'Hardest Working Man.' Austin fixture Ralph White contributes as well. Longtime fan and well-respected publicist/journalist Bill Bentley wrote liner notes for the package. The digipak also includes a mini-poster of one of Powell's psychedelic visual works, which have hung in the South Austin Museum of Popular Culture."

Artist:	FAIRFIELD, FRANK
Title:	Frank Fairfield
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2257CD

"'A young Californian who sings and plays as someone who's crawled out of the Virginia mountains carrying familiar songs that in his hands sound forgotten: broken lines, a dissonant drone, the fiddle or the banjo all percussion, every rising moment louder than the one before it.' -- Greil Marcus. California-based fiddle, guitar and banjo player, and ardent 78 collector Frank Fairfield has made his living as a musician, often found playing on the streets of Los Angeles. Handpicked by Fleet Foxes to open their U.S. tour, Frank released a 7" on Tompkins Square (TSQ7 003EP) and recorded his self-titled debut album. His 7" won over tough critics and purists like Grammy winning producer Chris King (Charley Patton, People Take Warning box set), Phil Alexander (Mojo) and Greil Marcus, to name a few. From liner notes by John Tottenham: 'Few questions can be satisfactorily answered about Frank Fairfield, mostly because he keeps to himself. He seems to be at once very open to share his insights, but yet in no way willing to give away his secrets. He was born in the San Joaquin Valley of California. He speaks of his grandfather leaving Texas to pick crops around the country, a constant traveler, a musician, who eventually 'got religion' and settled in Kettleman City, Kings County as a pastor. Dust storms, tumbleweeds, cotton crops... this imagery has been richly cultivated in Fairfield's young mind. Somewhere along the road Frank Fairfield finds himself and begins to play his grandfather's old fiddle, picks up the banjo and gitbox, and starts playing the tunes of old with great conviction, learning many songs from the collection of rural gramophone records he has hungrily hunted down.'"

Artist:	VA
Title:	Fire In My Bones
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	3CD
Price:	$27.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2271CD

Subtitled: Raw + Rare + Other-Worldly African-American Gospel [1944-2007]. "Almost 4 hours of music on 3 discs -- super-compelling, undiluted, stripped-down gospel! The majority of this music has never been reissued on CD, or in any other form (most tracks were originally released on regional independent labels). Most post-WWII compilations of African-American gospel music naturally concentrate on the astounding quartet and solo vocalist sounds made during the music's Golden Age. Fire In My Bones attempts to address and collect more neglected sounds from that era (and on to the present day). Dozens of traditions are represented. Some go back hundreds of years while others seem to have been arrived at as soon as the tape began to roll. Field recordings and studio tracks are all mashed together, with solo performances next to congregational recordings, hellfire sermons next to afterlife laments. Leon Pinson, Elder & Sister Brinson & the Brinson Brothers, Grant & Ella, Straight Street Holiness Group, Theotis Taylor, Brother & Sister W B Grate -- these artists will now be just a little less obscure. Fire In My Bones provides a small peek at the incredible diversity and power of post-war black gospel. Much of this music is raw, distorted and might sound a bit strange. But it is not presented as a novelty freak show or as 'outsider music.' This is gospel -- which we must always remember translates as 'the good news' -- as it has been sung and performed in tiny churches and large programs, from rural Georgia to urban Los Angeles. It is clearly among the most vibrant, playful, beautiful and emotionally charged music in the world."

Artist:	VA
Title:	Face A Frowning World: An E.C. Ball Memorial Album
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2288CD

"Featuring Jolie Holland, Jon Langford, Michael Hurley, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and many others. E.C. Ball of Rugby, Virginia, drove a school bus, ran a service station, and, with his wife Orna, made some of the most joyful, eerie, affecting, and enduring traditional country music around. First recorded by John A. Lomax for the Library of Congress in 1937, they sang ballads, comic songs, and mountain gospel music on records and the radio in a style entirely their own. Face A Frowning World is a tribute to the music of E.C. and Orna Ball, and a thirty-year memorial to E.C., who died in 1978. Played in large part by the Health & Happiness Family Gospel Band of Louisville, Kentucky, and many others."

Artist:	LOGAN QUINTET, THE GIUSEPPI
Title:	The Giuseppi Logan Quintet
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2325CD

"Legendary saxophonist Giuseppi Logan will release his first album in 45 years on NYC's Tompkins Square label. Logan recorded two albums for the ESP label in the mid-'60s featuring Eddie Gomez, Don Pullen and Milford Graves; The Giuseppi Logan Quartet and More. The Giuseppi Logan Quintet, recorded in September 2009, reunites Logan with two of his closest collaborators from the '60s, pianist Dave Burrell and drummer Warren Smith. Also joining him on the session are Francois Grillot on bass, and Matt Lavelle, trumpet and bass clarinet. The album features five brand new original Logan compositions, and several standards. Logan will maintain his rigorous schedule of appearances with his group, as well as his steady solo gig in the NW corner of Tompkins Square Park."

Artist:	A BROKEN CONSORT
Title:	Crow Autumn
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2332CD

"Crow Autumn is the latest album by English composer Richard Skelton, who releases haunting and evocative music under a variety of guises through his own much-acclaimed Sustain-Release Private Press. From Clouwbeck to Heidika, Carousell to Riftmusic, his recordings brim with intensity and stark beauty, redolent of the landscapes that inspire them. Recording here as A Broken Consort -- his most prolific and successful pseudonym -- Skelton expertly builds on the achievements of last year's Box Of Birch, creating a dense-yet-delicate weave of textures from a broad palette of acoustic instruments, including guitar, mandolin, piano, violin and accordion. The result is a stunning sequence of swells and eddies, culminating in the orchestral intensity of 'The River', with its torrent of interleaved violin melodies and seething undertow. Originally released in two installments on the artist's own label, this special edition for Tompkins Square distills the essence of those recordings into a coherent whole, and augments them with new material, including the beautifully elegiac 'Like Rain', and the brooding coda of 'Leaves'. With Crow Autumn, Skelton has created a work of enduring beauty that should firmly establish him as one of England's most uniquely talented contemporary artists, capable of rendering with a fine brush the visceral majesty of the natural landscape."

Artist:	MCMILLEN, SHAWN DAVID
Title:	Dead Friends
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2356CD

"Shawn David McMillen is a guitarist living in Austin, TX. Along with various compilations, CDRs, cassettes and LPs, SDM has appeared under his own name via Catfish [Tompkins Square], End Of The City [dnt,abandon ship] and now, Dead Friends [Tompkins Square]. Past involvements have included Friday Group, Ash Castles, Max Ochs, Jandek, warmer milks, Tom Carter, Christina Carter, Peter Walker, Ralph White, Starving Weirdos, Steve Gunn, Marc Orleans and more recently Gel Jail with Mikey T and Greg Bachus [both from warmer milks]. Dead Friends is Shawn's new record. It has el. and a. guitars, strings, piano, electronics, vocals, fiddle, drums, and tapes. All rendered in amber fidelity. From 'Phantom Rivers' to 'Sick on Navasota' it's all here. A real slow burner."

Artist:	LOUVIN, CHARLIE
Title:	Hickory Wind: Live At The Gram Parsons Guitar Pull
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2363CD

...Waycross GA. "On February 22, 1956, The Louvin Brothers warmed up for Elvis Presley at City Auditorium in Waycross, GA. On hand was a nine year old boy named Gram Parsons. It would leave an indelible mark on the future legend, who went on to popularize several Louvin Brothers songs for the ages. On September 19, 2009, Charlie returned to Waycross to pay tribute to the granddaddy of 'alt country'/ 'Americana', singing 'Hickory Wind' for the first time ever, as well as Louvin Brothers songs Gram either recorded or must have heard in his early years. If Gram is the granddaddy, Charlie is the great-granddaddy; a Country Music Hall of Famer, and a legend in the truest sense of the word."

Artist:	FAIRFIELD, FRANK
Title:	Unheard Ofs & Forgotten Abouts
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2387CD

Subtitled: Rare and unheralded gramophone recordings from around the world -- (1916-1964). "On this, the first release on Frank Fairfield's Tompkins Square imprint, Pawn Records, Fairfield presents an exciting collection of reissued recordings from his personal 78 rpm record collection. It provides a broad view of the 'Gramophone era,' specifically concerning the recording of vernacular music from around the world: from Atlanta, Georgia to Kisumu, Kenya; from the '10s to the '60s. The records have been beautifully transferred by the highly respected record collector and producer Michael Kieffer. Frank's self-titled debut album on Tompkins Square has won over fans like Greil Marcus and Ry Cooder, and landed Frank opening spots for Fleet Foxes and Brendan Benson. Pitchfork ran an extensive interview with Frank in their new column The Out Door, and he's been a staple on Greg Vandy's show on KEXP, Seattle." Includes 16-page booklet with notes on each track by Fairfield.

Artist:	VA
Title:	Beyond Berkeley Guitar
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2394CD

"NYC's Tompkins Square label is proud to present Beyond Berkeley Guitar, a collection of some of Northern California's finest acoustic guitarists. Beyond Berkeley Guitar is the follow-up to 2006's Berkeley Guitar, which through the efforts of three young guitarists, exemplified a strong current of American Primitive guitar playing in Berkeley still thriving since the 1960s when Takoma Records was founded there by John Fahey. That album included liner notes by Takoma's Ed Denson, and the stunning CD and gatefold LP were designed by acclaimed painter and Baroness singer/guitarist John Baizley. Beyond Berkeley Guitar was curated and produced by Sean Smith, who also produced Berkeley Guitar. As the title suggests, Beyond Berkeley Guitar expands the boundaries, stylistically and regionally, to display the prowess of seven Bay Area guitarists, all of whom use solo guitar composition as a means of profound personal expression. This collection spans generations of players, from Aaron Sheppard, a twenty year old virtuoso fingerpicker, to Richard Osborn, a free-raga style player who studied with Robbie Basho in the 1960s. The album also offers the rare treat of hearing a woman represented within a genre dominated almost entirely by men; Ava Mendoza, whose wiley and highly technical playing closes the album. Included as well are two gentle players, Trevor Healy and Chuck Johnson, who both come from avant rock pasts; Lucas Boilon, who largely keeps his extreme talent to himself; and Sean Smith, who continues to stretch the boundaries of American Primitive through genre and influence re-appropriation."

Artist:	WHITE, ROLAND
Title:	I Wasn't Born To Rock'n Roll
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2400CD

"Tompkins Square reissues an obscure treasure. Roland White's 1976 solo album I Wasn't Born To Rock 'N Roll, originally issued on the Ridge Runner Records label, is re-mastered from the original tapes and released for the very first time on CD. Roland White, along with his brother Clarence, made bluegrass and country music history as members of the Kentucky Colonels. Roland also played in Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys and Lester Flatt's Nashville Grass, and later in Country Gazette and the Nashville Bluegrass Band. Clarence famously played with the Byrds, among many others, until his tragic death in 1973. This album features Alan Munde, Kenny Wertz, Roger Bush and Dave Ferguson playing traditional tunes, as well as a composition called 'Powder Creek,' co-written by Roland & Clarence. This was the first appearance of this special tune on an album, a song which Roland now describes as having been composed with his brother on the New Jersey Turnpike in 1963! The package includes original liner notes by Gene Parsons (The Byrds), new reflections from Roland, original album artwork, and one unreleased bonus track not included on the original LP!"

Artist:	TYLER, WILLIAM
Title:	Behold The Spirit
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2424CD

"William Tyler is a native of Nashville, Tennessee and a guitarist who has spent the last several years recording and touring with Silver Jews and Lambchop among others. In addition he has contributed to albums by artists as diverse as Charlie Louvin, Candi Staton, and Wooden Wand, as well as taking part in a large ensemble piece by composer Rhys Chatham. He also contributed a track to Tompkins Square's acoustic guitar compilation, Imaginational Anthem Volume 4 : New Possibilities. Behold The Spirit reveals an astounding array of talents. In addition to his beautiful playing, Tyler is also an ace arranger, augmenting complex textures and various instrumentation with his lyrical compositions. A stunning, beautiful and varied guitar album for the ages."

Artist:	TYLER, WILLIAM
Title:	Behold The Spirit
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	LP
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2431LP

LP version, limited to 500 copies. "William Tyler is a native of Nashville, Tennessee and a guitarist who has spent the last several years recording and touring with Silver Jews and Lambchop among others. In addition he has contributed to albums by artists as diverse as Charlie Louvin, Candi Staton, and Wooden Wand, as well as taking part in a large ensemble piece by composer Rhys Chatham. He also contributed a track to Tompkins Square's acoustic guitar compilation, Imaginational Anthem Volume 4 : New Possibilities. Behold The Spirit reveals an astounding array of talents. In addition to his beautiful playing, Tyler is also an ace arranger, augmenting complex textures and various instrumentation with his lyrical compositions. A stunning, beautiful and varied guitar album for the ages."

Artist:	VA
Title:	Imaginational Anthem IV: New Possibilities
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2448CD

"The fourth volume of the acclaimed guitar series. Features C Joynes, Tyler Ramsey (Band of Horses), William Tyler (Silver Jews) and more. CD artwork by Paul Romano (Mastodon). Since its first volume in 2005, Tompkins Square's Imaginational Anthem series has introduced many new acoustic guitarists, and unearthed many forgotten legends of the American Primitive genre. Vol. 4 strays from the formula by focusing on the present generation of pickers, representing American and English musical traditions." Other artists include: Chris Forsyth, Sam Moss, Nick Jonah Davis, Pat O'Connell, Micah Blue Smaldone, Mike Fekete and Aaron Sheppard.

Artist:	HALL, BEN
Title:	Ben Hall!
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.50
Catalog #:	TSQ 2462CD

"Ben Hall is a multi talented entertainer from Okolona, Mississippi now living in Nashville, Tenn. In 2005, he won the National and International Thumbstyle Guitar Contests, as well as the Horizon Award from the National Thumbpicker's Hall of Fame. Ben has also been recognized nationally as a singer/songwriter who prefers traditional styles of music. Hall has performed at some of Nashville's most famous venues including the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame. Although he makes frequent appearances as a soloist, Hall has worked the stage as a sideman for legends such as Jeannie Seely, Jan Howard and Charlie Louvin. Ben has recorded with Louvin, Kurt Wagner & Cortney Tidwell, and Candi Staton. Tompkins Square is proud to release his debut, Ben Hall! , an album full of guitar tunes heavily influenced by his heroes Merle Travis and Chet Atkins. Produced by Eric 'Roscoe' Ambel."

Artist:	VA
Title:	Bloody War: Songs 1924-1939
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2479CD

"Soldier's laments, heart-songs, and patriotic tunes have been an essential part of the American sound-scape for many generations. Most of these compositions, however, have been identified with the Vietnam War or with World War II. This newly minted collection presents performances captured between 1924 and 1939 of songs originating from the American Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and the 'war to end all wars,' the First World War. These recordings were the folk foundation both of the common soldier's perspective of the battlefield and of the family and loved ones that were left behind. Bloody War recreates the musical panorama of the early 20th century with songs of warfare that are humorous and tragic, sardonic and vivid. Many of these songs have not been heard since they were originally issued in the 1920s and 1930s and are as relevant today as they were when they were first composed. Highlights of this collection include the masterpiece 'Dixie Division' by Fiddlin' John Carson, the legendary Atlanta, GA entertainer that was among the first rural performers to wax country music. His idiosyncratic fiddling meshes together a paean for Southern soldiers that have fought in the American Civil War to the First World War, held together with a medley of 'Dixie,' 'Swanee River,' and 'Yankee Doodle.' Contemporary banjoist and singer, Wade Mainer, contributes the poignant 'Not A Word Of That Be Said' a mere two years before the outbreak of World War II. A deep diversity of artists & performances are to be found in this anthology: from the inspired street-singing of William & Versey Smith to the plaintive balladry of Buell Kazee and from the red hot breakdown of Earl Johnson to the mesmerizing guitar blues of Darby & Tarlton. Produced by Christopher King and Josh Rosenthal, with art-design by Susan Archie and liner-notes by country music historian Tony Russell. A portion of all proceeds from the sale of this album will be donated to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA.org)."

Artist:	SMITH, SEAN
Title:	Christmas
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2486CD

"Accomplished Bay Area guitarist Sean Smith has released several albums under his own name, and has produced and contributed to the compilations Berkeley Guitar and Beyond Berkeley Guitar. His latest album Christmas is a gorgeous contemporary acoustic guitar recording featuring fourteen well-known Christmas classics and two Sean Smith originals. Considering the vast amount of syrupy instrumental music in this genre, Christmas is a most welcome holiday album, and one which could well become a classic for many years to come."

Artist:	PREFAB SPROUT
Title:	Let's Change The World With Music
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2493CD

"Prefab Sprout returns with the eagerly anticipated new album Let's Change The World With Music, their first album in eight years. Prefab Sprout's classic pop and elegant ballads have provided us with uplifting songs carrying a poignant emotional weight. Rising to fame in the '80s, Prefab Sprout are one of Britain's most endeared bands. Singer-songwriter Paddy McAloon is revered for his critically acclaimed, intelligent songwriting and is regularly lauded as one of the great British songwriters. The band's stature has risen steadily in recent years, due in part to the 2007 reissue of their classic album Steve McQueen which earned an 8.6 from Pitchfork, who called it 'some of the most beautiful, enduring British pop music ever made.'"

Artist:	VA
Title:	People Take Warning! Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	3CD
Price:	$19.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2509CD

...1913-1938. "In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Depression gripped the Nation. It was a time when songs were tools for living. A whole community would turn out to mourn the loss of a member and to sow their songs like seeds. This collection is a wild garden grown from those seeds." -- Tom Waits, from the Introduction.

"One of the best selling historical sets of all-time is now available as a specially priced abridged package -- most of the photos and notes intact, the same 3CD repertoire, in a rackable digipak! 70 powerful and tragic songs from the Golden Age of American Roots Music. Over 30 never before reissued. Introductory notes By Tom Waits."

Artist:	CHAPMAN, MICHAEL
Title:	Trainsong: Guitar Compositions 1967-2010
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	2CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2530CD

"UK's Michael Chapman began his career on the Cornish folk circuit in 1967. He signed to the Harvest label, home to Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and many others, recording four quasi-legendary albums. The influential Fully Qualified Survivor was John Peel's favorite record of 1970, and featured future Bowie collaborator Mick Ronson. After decades of recording and touring, Chapman remains an obscure figure in the states. His profile was raised by a lengthy interview with big fan Thurston Moore in Fretboard Journal last year, and he also toured extensively with the late guitarist Jack Rose, with whom Michael shared a warm kinship. Chapman has released dozens of albums, but only a few in the states. Trainsong: Guitar Compositions 1967-2010 is a 2CD collection of twenty-six recently recorded solo guitar versions of tunes spanning his entire career. It is a fascinating look at one of the most prolific and profound guitarists of our time. This release should finally bring proper attention to this inspiring and masterful musician. Tompkins Square is truly honored to be releasing this album by one of our favorite musical heroes."

Artist:	DAVIS, NICK JONAH
Title:	Of Time And Tides: Guitar Recordings Vol. II
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	LP
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2547LP

"Nick Jonah Davis is a guitarist from Nottingham, England. His early blues rock leanings led to the discovery of prewar blues, as well as modal British folk. Nick steadily absorbed these influences over many years of solitary improvisation. The post-Takoma acoustic guitar solo scene has provided a context for Nick's music, which might otherwise have remained a private endeavour. Live, Nick has shared bills in the UK and USA with the likes of James Blackshaw, Alasdair Roberts, Jozef van Wissem, Max Ochs, Ellen Mary McGee and Eric Carbonara. Nick first ventured into the studio to record his brief album Guitar Recordings Vol 1, one of UNCUT/Wild Mercury Sound's Top 100 Albums of 2009. Of Time and Tides is his more expansive second release, featuring evocative solo performances on 6 and 12 string guitar, as well as duets with guitarist Will Phipps and pianist Ed Earl."

Artist:	FAIRFIELD, FRANK
Title:	Out On The Open West
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2578CD

"A young Californian who sings and plays as someone who's crawled out of the Virginia mountains carrying familiar songs that in his hands sound forgotten: broken lines, a dissonant drone, the fiddle or the banjo all percussion, every rising moment louder than the one before it." -- Greil Marcus
"Out on the Open West is Frank Fairfield's new album. It was produced by Michael Kieffer (Origin Jazz Library) and features guest accompaniment by Willie Watson (Old Crow Medicine Show), Jerron 'Blind Boy' Paxton, Tom Marion, Justin and Josh Petrojvic and Brandon Armstrong. The album is a departure for Frank, having written most of the tunes himself, and bringing in the other players to round out his songs. His music has made fans of people like Ry Cooder, Grammy-winning producer Chris King (Charley Patton, People Take Warning box sets) and Greil Marcus, to name a few."

Artist:	FAIRFIELD, FRANK
Title:	Out On The Open West
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	LP
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2585LP

LP version. "A young Californian who sings and plays as someone who's crawled out of the Virginia mountains carrying familiar songs that in his hands sound forgotten: broken lines, a dissonant drone, the fiddle or the banjo all percussion, every rising moment louder than the one before it." -- Greil Marcus
"Out on the Open West is Frank Fairfield's new album. It was produced by Michael Kieffer (Origin Jazz Library) and features guest accompaniment by Willie Watson (Old Crow Medicine Show), Jerron 'Blind Boy' Paxton, Tom Marion, Justin and Josh Petrojvic and Brandon Armstrong. The album is a departure for Frank, having written most of the tunes himself, and bringing in the other players to round out his songs. His music has made fans of people like Ry Cooder, Grammy-winning producer Chris King (Charley Patton, People Take Warning box sets) and Greil Marcus, to name a few."

Artist:	BLAKE, RAN
Title:	Grey December: Live In Rome
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2592CD

"In a career spanning six decades, pianist/composer, writer and educator Ran Blake has released 36 albums for such labels as ESP, RCA, Arista and hatOLOGY. Grey December - Live in Rome captures Ran on a recent European jaunt in December 2010. Although one of his albums was recorded in a movie theatre and another in a train station, this is Ran's first live concert recording in front of an audience in a proper venue. The performance includes several new Ran Blake compositions that appear on record for the first time, as well as standards. The intensity and magic of Ran Blake's live performance is now here for us to enjoy and marvel at, again and again."

Artist:	VA
Title:	To What Strange Place
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	3CD
Price:	$36.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2608CD

Subtitled: The Music of the Ottoman-American Diaspora (1918-1929). "Before the Golden Age of Americana on Record, immigrants from the dissolving Ottoman Empire were singing their joys and sorrows to disc in New York City. The virtuosic musicians from Anatolia, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Levant living in the U.S. who recorded between WWI and the Depression are presented here across two discs along with a third disc of masterpieces they imported as memories on shellac-and-stone. The intermingled lives and music of Christians, Jews, and Muslims represent Middle Eastern culture as it existed within the U.S. a century ago. A fascinating, new view of American Folk Music. Compiled by Ian Nagoski." Aritsts include Marika Papagika (also released on Mississippi Record's The Further The Flame, The Worse It Burns Me, MR 051LP), Markos Sifnios, Kosroff Malool, Harry Edwards, Kemany Minas, Karekin Proodian, D. Perperian, Naim Karakand, Andrew Mekanna, Kanuni Garbis and more.

Artist:	ELKINGTON & NATHAN SALSBURG, JAMES
Title:	Avos
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	LP
Price:	$16.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2615LP

"Albums of guitar duets are rare. Albums of guitar duets featuring one American and one Englishman, synthesizing their geo�graphically specific approaches in a collection of new compositions, are rarer. Not since Stefan Grossman and John Renbourn's partnerships of the 1970s has there been such a happy reconciliation of Merrie Old England and the good old USA, in which baroque meets the blues, music-hall steps out to ragtime, and Benjamin Britten sits down with Blind Blake. James Elkington moved from London to Chicago around the turn of the millennium and has since released a string of albums as leader of The Zincs for Thrill Jockey Records. After dissolving the band in 2008, Elkington has concentrated on acoustic, folk-tinged music with his band The Horse's Ha (that he shares with Freakwater's Janet Bean). Nathan Salsburg is best known as an archivist and producer for the Alan Lomax Archive, curator of the Twos & Fews vernacularmusic imprint on Drag City Records, and host of the 'Root Hog Or Die' program on East Village Radio. He appears on Tompkins Square's Imaginational Anthem Volume 3 compilation, and produced a tribute album to EC Ball, also on Tompkins Square. Elkington suggested a leap of faith into a collaboration, despite the fact that the two had never previously played guitar together. AVOS, then, hither and thither over several seasons, between a porch in Louisville and a kitchen in Chicago, slowly took shape. Aptly, the name comes from the Russian word for the confident approach to new situations, and the faith that nothing tragic will occur once in them."

Artist:	VA
Title:	This May Be My Last Time Singing
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	3CD
Price:	$36.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2639CD

Subtitled: Raw, African-American Gospel On 45rpm(1957-1982). "Get ready for fiery sanctified soul, heavy Pentecostal jams, drum machine gospel, slow-burning moaners, glorified guitar sermons and righteously ragged a cappela hymns! The music on this compilation was originally released on small label 45s, mostly in the 1960s and '70s. At least one-third of the records were self-released, paid for by a church congregation or the artists themselves. Others were on regional labels (typically run by one single producer) little known today outside of a small circle of collectors. This vibrant music is incredibly honest and almost criminally unknown. All tracks were sourced from 45s collected over the last decade by compiler Mike McGonigal, who also produced 2009's three disc set Fire in My Bones: Raw + Rare + Otherworldly African-American Gospel (1944-2007) for Tompkins Square (TSQ 2271CD)."

Artist:	KEYS, CALVIN
Title:	Shawn-Neeq
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	LP
Price:	$23.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2646LP

"Originally released on the influential label Black Jazz in 1971, guitarist Calvin Keys' debut is a stone classic waiting to be re-discovered. The funky, deep grooves and Calvin's singular guitar stylings, coupled with the heady collaborative feel that inhabits so many early '70s jazz recordings, are all on beautiful display. Calvin's musical roots originate in his hometown of Omaha, NE, playing with legends like Eddie 'Cleanhead' Vinson. Shortly after the release of his debut LP Shawn-Neeq, Calvin was hired to tour and record with Ray Charles. By the mid-70s, Calvin was working steadily with legendary pianist Ahmad Jamal on the road and in the studio. Since settling in the Bay Area in the mid-70s, Calvin has recorded numerous solo albums and played with many greats, including Taj Mahal, Bobby Hutcherson, Big John Patton and Dr. Lonnie Smith." On 180 gram vinyl.

Artist:	GAYLE, CHARLES
Title:	Time Zones
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2839CD

"Time Zones is Charles Gayle's first solo piano album of all original compositions. Although he is known primarily as a fiery tenor saxophonist with a sound that blends the spirituality of John Coltrane with the free expression of Albert Ayler, his first instrument was the piano. Since putting his long and storied past as a homeless New York street musician behind him, and recording for the first time in the late 1980s, he has steadily integrated piano into his performances, leading AllAboutJazz.com reviewer Dennis Hollingsworth to declare, 'Charles Gayle is without question one of the most intriguing figures in modern jazz today. Like with his saxophone playing, Gayle uses the entire range of the piano. His style is highly personal, yet firmly grounded in the playing of past masters like Art Tatum and Bud Powell.'"

Artist:	SMITH/ADAM SNIDER/MATT BALDWIN, SEAN
Title:	Berkeley Guitar
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.50
Catalog #:	TSQ 5252CD

"Berkeley Guitar is a collection of new recordings by three of the Bay Area's finest young acoustic guitarists: Sean Smith, Adam Snider, and Matt Baldwin. The city of Berkeley and the acoustic guitar share a rich, decades-long history -- most notably as the '60s home base of Takoma Records, which released landmark recordings by John Fahey, Robbie Basho, Leo Kottke and many others. This history inspired three young guitarists from the Bay Area to create a document of the present-day guitar scene. The album was produced by Sean Smith and recorded and mastered at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, CA. Larry Kelp of Berkeley public radio station KPFA contributes liner notes, as does Ed Denson, co-founder of Takoma Records." Each artist gets 3-4 separate tracks, not a collaborative album.

Artist:	VA
Title:	Imaginational Anthem
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 531CD

"Imaginational Anthem brings together pioneering acoustic guitar heroes of the '60s and '70s alongside a new generation of amazing players. Nearly 70 minutes of archival, live and newly recorded studio tracks -- some by artists who haven't released any music in decades. Plus a deluxe booklet with producer's notes and never before seen photographs. A solo guitar extravaganza! Imaginational Anthem features 16 tracks, 14 of which are previously unreleased, and nine of which were recorded specifically for the project. As evidenced by the recent success of experimental neo-folk troubadours like Six Organs, Devendra Banhart and Joanna Newsom, there's a strong interest in psychedelic folk sounds, both old and new. This compilation of solo acoustic gems spans 40 years and bridges two generations of guitar masters, from legends Sandy Bull and John Fahey to modern practitioners like Jack Rose and Kaki King." Artists: Max Ochs, Jack Rose, Glenn Jones, Sean Smith, Bern Nix, Harris Newman, Brad Barr, Jesse Sparhawk,Sandy Bull, John Fahey, Bob Hadley, Kaki King, Steve Mann, Suni McGrath, Gyan Riley, Janet Smith and Harry Taussig.

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Artist:	MCGRATH, SUNI
Title:	Seven Stars b/w Fantasia
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	7"
Price:	$6.00
Catalog #:	NM 53167

Artist:	ARDOIN, AMEDE
Title:	Mama, I'll Be Long Gone
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	2CD
Price:	$19.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 2554CD