Jake Blount: African American Folk Music

A powerfully gifted musician and a scholar of Black American music, Jake Blount speaks ardently about the African roots of the banjo and the subtle, yet profound ways African Americans have shaped and defined the categories of roots music and Americana. His 2020 album Spider Tales was named one of the year’s best albums by NPR and The New Yorker, and earned a perfect 5-star review from The Guardian. His 2022 album The New Faith is a powerful statement of dystopian Afrofuturism. The New Faith is spiritual music, filled with hope for salvation and righteous anger in equal measure. In his work, he highlights the Black and Indigenous histories of popular American folk tunes

Jake Blount was born and raised in Washington, DC. About half of the songs on The New Faith were sourced from field recordings in the collections of the American Folklife Center (AFC) at the Library of Congress. AFC is therefore very happy to bring both Jake and the songs home during African American History Month, working with other Library offices and with the Folklore Society of Greater Washington to present Blount as part of Live! At the Library.

For transcript and more information, visit https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-10779