‘SIGNATURE SOUNDS 20TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION: RARITIES FROM THE SECOND DECADE’ (MARCH 3) SEES LABEL CELEBRATING AFTER ITS MOST SUCCESSFUL YEAR TO DATE

COLLECTION OFFERS LAKE STREET DIVE, EILEN JEWELL, CHRIS SMITHER, CROOKED STILL, AND MORE; TWELVE UNRELEASED SONGS, COVERS OF RANDY NEWMAN, ERNEST TUBB, AND MORE; AND 18 TRACKS OVERALL

Signature Sounds – the Americana and folk label that launched the careers of Josh Ritter and Lake Street Dive and sustained that of Chris Smither – will release ‘Signature Sounds 20th Anniversary Collection: Rarities From The Second Decade’ featuring twelve unreleased tracks, eighteen tracks in total from the likes of Lake Street Dive, Crooked Still, Eilen Jewell, Chris Smither, and others. The label is coming off of the most successful year of its existence, which saw Lake Street Dive catapult to Billboard’s top 20 and become "this year's best new band," according to Rolling Stone.

Entertainment Weekly said last month, “Folk music’s having a moment right now–maybe its biggest in decades” and Signature Sounds has helped fuel that trend. Tracks on the ‘20th Anniversary Collection’ draw on the rich strains of Americana music, country music, and folk music that have marked Signature Sounds’ entire oeuvre. Van Dyke Parks joins Jeffrey Foucault on “Real Love”; Parsonsfield’s version of the traditional song “Moonshiner” was recorded at Sam Kassirer’s Great Northern Sound Society (which has also been covered by Bob Dylan and Uncle Tupelo); Peter Mulvey covers Randy Newman’s “Lonely At The Top” while Eilen Jewell tackles “Why I’m Walkin’” (which was a #6 Billboard Country charting hit for Ernest Tubb in 1960 and which Elvis Costello and Loretta Lynn also recorded) and Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers interpret Dock Boggs’ “Country Blues,” which originally appeared on the Gold-certified, GRAMMY-winning Anthology of American Folk Music. (Boggs is discussed in Greil Marcus’ book Invisible Republic: Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes.) Eilen Jewell’s barn-burning gospel band Sacred Shakers takes “Samson & Delilah” for a spin, which has also been performed by the Grateful Dead. These tracks are accompanied by strong originals by Lake Street Dive, indie folk band Winterpills, Chris Smither (who is celebrating his 50th anniversary in music this year), Kris Delmhorst (with Foucault backing her) and a hidden, bonus track by Lake Street Dive.

Since its founding in Whately, MA in 1994, Signature Sounds has released over 150 albums; moved to Northampton, MA; established its own venue the Parlor Room; landed songs in Six Feet Under, True Blood Weeds, Grey's Anatomy, Sons Of Anarchy, Nashville, Modern Family and in a T-Mobile ad campaign. Originally launched as a label to spotlight the burgeoning western Massachusetts folk scene, it has gained national prominence behind acts such as Mary Gauthier, Erin McKeown, Crooked Still (from which Aoife O’Donovan has emerged), Patty Larkin, Lori McKenna, and Eilen Jewell.

Signature Sounds will also host a 20th anniversary celebration the weekend of November 28-30, as a thank you to its fans, featuring 19 different artists over four concerts in Northampton, MA. Here is a Signature Sounds 20th Anniversary Playlist of artists playing the November shows.

The celebration will continue July 10-12 at the Green River Festival, which is produced by Signature Sounds in Greenfield, MA.

‘Signature Sounds 20th Anniversary Collection: Rarities From The Second Decade’ Track List

1.      Lovesick Redstick Blues - Crooked Still
2.      Real Love - Jeffrey Foucault*
3.      Be Back Home - Sweetback Sisters
4.      Moonshiner - Parsonsfield*
5.      What I'm Doing Here - Lake Street Dive
6.      A Tree In The Lung - Winterpills*
7.      Such Great Heights - Joy Kills Sorrow
8.      No Shortcuts - Heather Maloney & Darlingside
9.      It's Lonely At The Top - Peter Mulvey*
10.     That's Why I'm Walkin - Eilen Jewell*
11.     Carey - Barnstar!*
12.     Here In California - Caroline Herring*
13.     Drive You Home Again - Chris Smither*
14.     Country Blues - Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers
15.     Violent Love - Sweet & Lowdown (Miss Tess and Rachael Price of Lake Street Dive)*
16.     Samson & Delilah - Sacred Shakers*
17.     If This Ain't Heaven - Kris Delmhorst & Jeffrey Foucault*
18.     I’m Satisfied - Rani Arbo & Daisy Mayhem*

* Previously unreleased.

SIGNATURE SOUNDS RECORDINGS CELEBRATES 20 YEARS WITH CONCERT SERIES, NEW COMPILATION, AND CELEBRATION AT 2015 GREEN RIVER FESTIVAL

Signature Sounds Recordings – the Northampton, MA-based Americana and folk music label home to Chris Smither, Lake Street Dive, Eilen Jewell, and others – will celebrate 20 years with a series of events:

+ Thanksgiving weekend, November 28, 29, and 30, four concerts will take place at the Academy of Music (274 Main St.) and at Signature’s home venue The Parlor Room (32 Masonic St.) in Northampton, MA, featuring label best-seller Lake Street Dive, subject of a new tribute album and Smither, noir starlet Eilen Jewell, the reunited Crooked Still, and 13 other acts. Smither is celebrating fifty years in music.

Spotify playlist on the artists at the concert series.

+ March 3 sees the release of ‘The Signature Sounds 20th Anniversary Collection,’ featuring favorites and rarities from the label’s over 150 releases, featuring Lake Street Dive, Smither, Crooked Still, Jewell, Josh Ritter, and fourteen more artists and bands.

+ A spring tour featuring artists from the ‘Signature Sounds 20th Anniversary Collection.’ Dates and artists to be announced.

+ A celebration of the label will be held at the Green River Festival July 10-12, 2015 in Greenfield, MA. Here’s a look back at 2014’s sold out festival, which featured over thirty bands on three stages, including Ritter, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Trampled By Turtles, Lucius, Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin & The Guilty Ones, Hurray For The Riff Raff, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

2014 has proven to be a watershed year for the label. In February, Signature released Lake Street Dive’s ‘Bad Self Portraits’ album, which entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #18 and has become the best selling album in label history. Rolling Stone exclaimed, "Lake Street Dive: This year's best new band." Lake Street Dive has made appearances on numerous network TV shows including The Colbert Report, Late Show With David Letterman, CONAN, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and CBS Saturday Morning.

From the beginning, Signature has been involved in presenting live music, initially programming the popular Green River Festival and later presenting shows at clubs and theaters around the Pioneer Valley. In 2012, the label moved into its current headquarters in downtown Northampton and opened The Parlor Room. The intimate venue quickly proved popular and has hosted over 100 performances.

Signature Sounds was formed in 1994 by Jim Olsen and Mark Thayer to promote the burgeoning roots music scene in the Pioneer Valley. Signature has played a part in launching the careers of such notable artists as Ritter, Lake Street Dive, Erin McKeown, Mary Gauthier, Crooked Still, Jewell and others while also working with long-respected singer-songwriters like Chris Smither, Patty Larkin and Richard Shindell.