The Little Village Foundation was founded in 2014 by Jim Pugh as a 501(c)(3) organization based in Solvang, California. Pugh is a veteran keyboard player who has toured the world with Robert Cray and Etta James (see Stickin' to My Guns). Little Village Foundation (LVF) is non-profit company in the music industry that produces and distributes what it considers to be culturally significant recordings made by individuals and groups that might otherwise not be heard beyond the artists' community or family. The label serves an access point for previously overlooked artists who retain their intellectual property and album sales through their work with the organization. The artists come from widely varied and sometimes non-traditional backgrounds. Pugh and his find and secure talent to sign and record, and several of the musicians have roots that extend to other nations, including Mexico, India, Russia and the Philippines.
Discography
LVF released its batch of four CDs in 2015. Four more followed in 2016, and seven more have followed in both 2017 and 2018. Most are released in the summer to coincide with an artists' showcase on Fourth Of July weekend at the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland, Oregon.
2015 releases
David Ellis With Any Luck But Bad (western/folk musician from Bakersfield, California) Los Tres Amigos Snuviko's When the Clouds Descend (musicians from Santa Maria, California, who sing and play in the Mixtec language of their native Oaxaca, Mexico) Ron Thompson's Son Of Boogie Woogie (Oakland, California, bluesman) Wee Willie Walker's If Nothing Ever Changes (Memphis-born soul-blues artist based in Minneapolis, Minnesota)
2016 releases
John "Blues" Boyd's The Real Deal (Mississippi-born San Francisco-area bluesman) Aireene Espiritu's Back Where I Belong (Filipino-American Californian who sings some tunes in Tagalog) Aki Kumar's Aki Goes To Bollywood (Bay Area-based blues harmonica player from Mumbai, India, who sings in Hindi) Mariachi Mestizo's Te Doy La Libertad (16 high school students from Delano, California) Wee Willie Walker's Live! Notodden Blues Festival Norway (October release)
2017 releases
Sean Wheeler's Sand In My Blood (Salton Sea Legend of The Desert) Chris Cain's Chris Cain (San Jose, California, born blues multi-instrumentalist) Xochtil Morales' Descansos (LVF's first spoken-word album – the poetry of a member of Mariachi Mestizo) The Sons Of The Soul Revivers' Live! Rancho Nicasio (traditional gospel quartet singing) Maurice Tani's The Lovers Card (alt-country artist from San Francisco) Paul DeLay's 1997 Live At Notodden (blues) Howell Devine's HOWL (Bay Area country blues and jazz)
2018 releases
Ada Pasternak's Sweet Dreams (Violinist and singer-songwriter – recorded with and a tribute to her parents Rayhan and Igor, with whom she migrated to the U.S. from her native Russia) Aki Kumar's Hindi Man Blues (A fusion of blues and Bollywood with liner notes from blues harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite) Kevin Burt's Heartland And Soul (Debut recording from Iowa-based guitarist/harmonica player who captured top honors in three categories at the 2018 International Blues Challenge) Marcel Smith's' Everybody Needs Love (Debut solo album from veteran gospel vocalist) Mariachi Mestizo's XX Aniversario (Mariachi follow-up to 2016 debut album) United By Music North America's Yes We Can Can (blues, swing, jazz and rock-'n'-roll performed by professionals and musicians with autism and other developmental disabilities they mentor through their international non-profit organization) Various Artists Raise Your Voice (Collection of music and spoken-word pieces about school safety delivered by survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre in Parkland, Florida, and others from other parts of the U.S., including the following songs/works by the following high school students: "Shine", by Sawyer Garrity and Andrea Peña; "Raise Your Voice", by Madison Yearsley; "Save Me", by Tyler Jenkins; "A Poem for the Fallen", spoken word by Saida Dahir; "Renegades", by Amalia Fleming; "The Truth: We Need Change", by the AP Music Class from John W. Lavelle Preparatory Charter School; "17", by Ben Soto; "The Separation", by Ashlyn Flamer and Christopher Doleman; "Little Princess", by Tyler Suarez; "Freedom", by Nina Lee; and "We Can", by students from St. Paul High School for the Performing Arts) Whitney Shay's A Woman Rules The World (San Diego-based blues vocalist)