Folk Arts Rare Records

Deep Digging with LITA Staffer Daniel Cohn

In 2022, the confluence of three events took place that seem to have forever changed my life: I finally got around to listening to Michael Hurley, I heard the magical whistling of Henry Thomas, and I watched Ken Burns’ Country Music. I became obsessed and infatuated, and I needed to know everything and more (I even named my new dog Jocko after the Hurley song). And of course, as a Light in the Attic employee, I needed as many LPs as possible. Thankfully, I knew where to begin, but I quickly needed more. More music, more context, and more history!

Labels like Rounder, County, and Yazoo became my life. I went into record stores asking for anything that mentioned “transferred from original 78s” in the liner notes. I made pilgrimages to Mississippi Records in Portland, Domino in New Orleans, and even Honest John’s in the UK, but the funny thing about record collecting, at least for me, is that within a few days of bringing home 15+ LPs from each one of these visits, I again wanted more. I couldn’t take every trip I wanted in person, and that is when the rest of the story comes into play.

To properly set the stage, I will need to introduce a few key components to the story. Alejandra Frank is the Label/Vendor Coordinator here at Light in the Attic and aside from being an incredible coworker and friend, she also happens to live in San Diego: home of the Padres, Blink-182, and the world-famous Folk Arts Rare Records. (Alejandra is also a former Folk Arts employee.) Folk Arts is a beautiful shop that was originally opened in 1967 by Lou Curtiss, who himself had contributed to countless Rounder releases during his lifetime. It is now owned by the fabulous Brendan Boyle who, I can only assume, has flawlessly kept the original spirit of the store intact.

Somehow the idea came up that Alejandra should go to Folk Arts with me on FaceTime; she’d flip through the bins, and I’d call out records to set aside to be purchased and then mailed up to my home in Seattle. The idea kept coming back up, and eventually, we looped in Brendan and set the date for a Sunday in July. I was feeling a bit anxious and guilty leading up to it. Honestly, I was worried that I had roped Alejandra into giving up a few hours of her Sunday to shop for me, and I’m so picky that I’d only find 1 or 2 LPs and have wasted everyone’s time. I didn’t let that stop us though.

Up until a few weeks ago, I didn’t have any of my roughly 1,500 LPs cataloged and would constantly forget what I already owned. It feels like the album covers all have someone standing with a fiddle and a title like “Life is Hard” or “Famous Last Words.” So, on that warm Sunday afternoon in July, I keenly positioned myself next to my record shelves so I could quickly scan to see if I already owned a record while Alejandra shopped.

Her call came—it was happening! She was already standing by the sections she knew I’d be most interested in, and we never even once looked at some of my old favorites: punk, rock, indie, etc.

I’d be remiss if I did not mention that all record stores are special. It means the world to me and LITA that there is still such an abundance, and the hard work that everyone puts into their shops is undeniable. I speak to buyers and owners daily, all over the world, and I could not be more impressed with the work and knowledge that everyone sustains to keep their businesses up and running. That being said, not every store caters to everyone’s specific (pre-war folk) needs. So when Alejandra flipped her camera around to show me the sections, not only was I elated to see Folk and Country split into their own sections (rather than a combined Folk/Country bin card), but all these wacky labels had their own bin cards! There was a section for Cattle Records (a short-lived West German label that focused on cowboy music), County, Mississippi, and even Cow Girl Boy Records (another niche German label from the 1980s). When I go to stores and they have an “Old Timey” section, I feel like I’ve hit a jackpot, but here, on my iPhone screen, I saw a beautiful array of the music that matters most to me.

I could not have been more wrong about my anxieties. Within seconds, I’m asking Alejandra to set aside Ernest Stoneman LPs, recordings from the Galax Fiddle Festival in VA, and a copy of the DeZurik Sisters reissue. It’s all there, and I can’t wait to see what we come across next. Alejandra herself is well-versed in the world of old-timey music and is also making suggestions for records I passed over initially. She knows my buzzwords and what to look for: Alan Lomax, 78s, or anything that says 1920s.

We moved on to Blues and Old Timey (Brendan has that section, too!). To add an extra challenge, those sections are stored “library style” with spines facing out, the way one would store their collection at home. Alejandra proceeds to pull the jackets out halfway and I make my decision right then and there. That’s when I see it; I don’t yet know what it is, but I know it’s special. Wink The Other Eye: Old Time Fiddle Band Music From Kentucky, Volume 1. I want it, I need it, and I don’t care that it’s $25.00 (most of what I had picked thus far was around $7.99). Further down the shelf, we find volumes 2 and 3. Well, now I have to get the whole set. It turns out that these three albums were released on the practically unknown Morning Star label, which was an imprint of the incredible Shanachie record label. Morning Star only had nine total releases and here were three of them (I now have six of the nine).

The whole shopping experience lasted about an hour and a half, and when we got down to the end, I had selected 35 LPs. Alejandra wisely recommended I put a few back, and we brought 27 LPs to Brendan at the counter for checkout. This was an abnormal checkout experience, to say the least. We reviewed everything I had picked out, and Brendan was an endless well of information. He had something to say about every LP I had selected, and I hung on his every word. We talked about everything from Lou Curtiss to Light in the Attic and an almost unheard Michael Hurley recording (to explain the Michael Hurley conversation would require a whole other essay).

We said our goodbyes, and a week or so later, my boxes arrived in Seattle. The best part was that I had completely forgotten every album I had picked out! It was like seeing everything for the first time all over again. I plan to have Alejandra go back with me on FaceTime very soon.

I spent a while questioning whether I should share this story publicly, as I was concerned my secret would get out and the masses would rush to Folk Arts to buy up every last bit of old-timey music that remained on the shelves. In the end, I decided it did not matter. And if that does happen, I have plenty of friends in other cities with iPhones.