Jayme Stone’s Folklife

Heirloom seeds passed down from a bygone generation

Jayme Stone’s Folklife (ON)

Two-time JUNO-winning banjoist, composer and instigator Jayme Stone makes music inspired by sounds from around the world— bridging folk, jazz and chamber music. His award-winning albums both defy and honor the banjo’s long role in the world’s music, turning historical connections into compelling sounds.

Jayme Stone’s Lomax Project (2015) focused on songs collected by folklorist and field recording pioneer Alan Lomax. The collaboratory brought together distinctive roots musicians to revive, recycle and reimagine traditional music. The repertoire included Bahamian sea shanties, Gullah spirituals, Appalachian ballads, fiddle tunes and work songs collected from both well-known musicians and everyday folk: sea captains, cowhands, fishermen, prisoners and homemakers.

Jayme Stone’s Folklife follows the bends and bayous through the deep river of song and story. Evolving out of his “Lomax Project,” Folklife treats old field recordings not as time capsules, but as heirloom seeds passed down from a bygone generation. Planting these sturdy seeds in modern soil, this versatile gathering of musicians has cultivated vibrant Sea Island spirituals, Creole calypsos, and stomp-down Appalachian dance tunes for contemporary listeners. Their concerts and educational programs are moving, inventive, and participatory experiences that prove folk songs are indeed perennials for the people.

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