The latest artist to receive the Smithsonian Folkways spotlight is the late Sonya Cohen Cramer. The vocalist, graphic designer, and art director was Pete Seeger’s niece, and she joined Seeger in a lifelong embrace of traditional folk music. The new compilation You’ve Been A Friend To Me includes recordings from throughout Cramer’s life, including collaborations with Pete and Peggy Seeger.
The title track is a song first published as sheet music in 1858 and popularized by a Carter Family recording from 1936. Cramer recorded her version in 2014 with Elizabeth Mitchell and Daniel Littleton from the dreamy, folky slowcore band Ida. The song became a personal anthem for Cramer as she battled cancer; in 2015, at her 50th birthday party, she sang “You’ve Been A Friend To Me” to a large group of her friends. A few months later, she was gone.
Hear “You’ve Been A Friend To Me” below.
You’ve Been A Friend To Me is out 5/17 on Smithsonian Folkways.
