© 2026 Texas Public Radio
Real. Reliable. Texas Public Radio.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Scam Advisory: We’ve been notified of individuals posing as The Source producers and requesting payment for booking. TPR never charges for interviews or appearances. Booking requests can be verified at thesource@tpr.org. Report incidents to reportfraud.ftc.gov.

Robert McCormick's blues collection becomes public

Mack McCormick and Spider Kilpatrick. (Courtesy of Chris Strachwitz)
Mack McCormick and Spider Kilpatrick. (Courtesy of Chris Strachwitz)

A massive and closely held collection of blues music and research from the 1950s and 60s is seeing the light of day. The collection is from Robert “Mack” McCormick, who died in 2015 at age 85.

Smithsonian’s Folkways label and American History Museum are releasing parts of his collection including a box set to mark Folkways’ 75th anniversary.

Here & Now‘s Peter O’Dowd speaks with Susannah Nix, McCormick’s daughter, and John Troutman, curator of music and musical instruments at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.