Southern Folklife Collection

Gentle On My Mind (Live The Goodtime Hour) - Glen Campbell & John Hartford Official video of Glen Campbell performing Gentle On My Mind on his hit US show, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, with John Hartford.

Happy birthday Willie Nelson! A photo from Willie's early years in Nashville writing hits like "Hello Walls" "Funny How Time Slips Away" & "Crazy" John Edwards Memorial Collection ( #20001), Southern Folklife Collection, Wilson Special Collections Library, UNC Library.

One to watch for! Stephen Wade's new book Our Common Life
Folksong from the Front Porch to the Concert Hall. Publication date: 9/1/2026. See: https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=e049262

University of Illinois Press Book Trailer for OUR COMMON LIFE

Happy birthday singer-songwriter, activist and organizer Si Kahn! Born April 23, 1944. We are honored to preserve and provide access to Si's personal collection: https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/20450/

April 17, 1970: Johnny Cash plays the White House with June Carter and The Statler Brothers. Cash declines president Nixon's request to do Merle Haggard's "Okie From Muskogee" but does perform "Folsom Prison Blues," "Peace In The Valley" and "What Is Truth"

The UNC University Libraries' Southern Folklife Collection is proud to announce that the Ron and Fay Stanford Collection is now available for research! Explore the archival finding aid here:

👉https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/catalog/70226

The Ron and Fay Stanford collection consists largely of photographs and field recordings documenting the Cajun and zydeco music scene in southwest Louisiana between 1972 and 1974. The collection contains performance images of musicians including Dewey Balfa, Octa Clark, Agnès Bourque and Clifton Chenier as well as documentary images depicting everyday life around Basile, La., during the early 1970s. Many of these photographs were later used for the book and exhibition Big French Dance: Cajun & Zydeco Music, 1972-1974. Also included are oral history interviews with Cajun musicians including D. L. Menard, Clint West and Wilson Granger conducted between 1973 and 1974, recorded as part of independent fieldwork in Southwest Louisiana. Other materials of interest include research notes and project files: including interviews and writings covering artists such as J. B. Fusilier, Austin Pitre, Jimmy C. Newman, Florence Reece, and Doc Watson along with materials pertaining to the Stanford-produced Cajun and zydeco music compilation J'Etais au Bal: Music from French Louisiana.

Many thanks to Dawne Lucas, Andrew Crook, and Shaw Lentz for their work in making this collection accessible. We’re honored to help preserve and share this remarkable work. 🎻

The UNC Libraries Southern Folklife Collection is proud to announce that the Bobby Patterson Collection is now available for research! Explore the archival finding aid here:
👉 https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/catalog/20574

Bobby Frank Patterson (1942–2017) of Galax, Virginia, was a central figure in the Blue Ridge Mountains’ music community—a multi‑instrumentalist, record producer, organizer, and advocate for traditional music. From performing with Kyle Creed and the Camp Creek Boys to helping found The Old Time Herald, launching Mountain Records and Heritage Records, organizing festivals, and helping sustain the legendary Galax Old Fiddler’s Convention. He was inducted into the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame in 2015.

Many thanks to Dawne Lucas, Andrew Crook, Shaw Lentz, Anne Wells, Kilby Spencer, Mark Sanderford, and Barrett Brooks for their work in making this collection accessible. We’re honored to help preserve and share this remarkable legacy. 🪕