The Dave Sear Folk Music Collection

Dave Sear Performing at a Hootenanny in Washington Square Park

The Dave Sear Folk Music Collection

In 2011, host and folk musician Dave Sear generously loaned the archives some 500 1/4" open reel tapes for digitization.  The tapes consist of three decades of shows he produced and recorded here at WNYC. The Archives Department is pleased to highlight some of the most significant and exciting artists that performed on his three programs: Adventures in Folk Music, Folk Music Almanac, and Folk and Baroque - including Reverend Gary Davis, Mable Hillery, Utah Phillips, Tom Paxton, Happy Traum, Pete Seeger, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Robin and Linda Williams, and many many more.

As a performer, Sear comes out of the Lomax and Seeger musical traditions and he sees American folk music as a vast body of literature that tells the life affirming story of our country through the songs of the people that built it. The Dave Sear Collection is based on that foundation and features the traditional singers who have carried it on and the new singers who have moved it forward.

Stories

The Song that Made Janis Ian the Most Notorious Folk Singer in America

Just a few months before Janis Ian became a household name at the age of 16, she performed five of her most controversial songs live in our studios.
WNYC |

Meet Bill Staines, the 1975 National Yodeling Champion

In 1975, Staines won the National Yodeling Championship at the Kerrville, TX. Listen to the skills that won him the honor in this November 30, 1985 concert.
WNYC |

The Ballad of a Watergate Security Guard

"The Ballad of Frank Wills", tells the story of Nixon's demise from the perspective of the security guard who discovered the Watergate break-in.
WNYC |

Remembering Singer and Folklorist Guy Carawan

Guy Carawan, who died Saturday at the age of 87, introduced "We Shall Overcome" to the Civil Rights movement. We remember him with an in-studio performance on our station from 1966.
WNYC |

An Exclusive Unearthed Track by Blues Legend Reverend Gary Davis

Reverend Gary Davis, a.k.a. Blind Gary Davis, was an actual blind minister from South Carolina and one of the greatest blues musicians of all time. He recorded this song at WNYC in 1966.
WNYC |

Georgia Sea Island Singer Mable Hillery

In 1967 we had the privilege of hosting one of the most unique voices in music.
WNYC |

Listen to Rare, Beautiful Music from the Robeson Archives

In 1976, Paul Robeson Jr. came to the WNYC studios to share rare recordings from his father's influential life and singing career.
WNYC |

Utah Phillips, Will Rogers, and Tall Tales of America's First Radio Broadcast

The ultimate raconteur spins some tall tales live on our airwaves.
WNYC |

I'm Changing My Name to Chrysler

Folk troubadour Tom Paxton addresses corporate bailouts and The Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979 in this clever send-up.
WNYC |

Mary Chapin Carpenter Guest in Studio

The folk singer performs some of her work and talks about her career and folk music.
WNYC |
WNYC Archives show image

WNYC Archives

Established in the year 2000, the New York Public Radio Archives are the station's physical link to its rich and storied past.

Be alert for scams. WNYC never asks for nor accepts money for coverage or interviews. Anyone making such a request does not represent WNYC.

YOU ARE ONLINE