Portland, Oregon’s acclaimed family music artists Aaron Nigel Smith and Red Yarn are releasing their first collaborative album, Smith & Yarn, on April 29, 2022. The album mixes their signature styles of reggae, funk, folk, country and roots rock into a unique blend of sounds and cultural traditions. Their lyrics celebrate unity, activism and friendship with a warm and inviting ease.   

Aaron Nigel Smith is a GRAMMY® nominated producer, teaching artist and nonprofit leader. He starred in the PBS kids show Between the Lions, runs an international music education program called 1 World Chorus, and co-produced All One Tribe, an album of 25 Black family music artists that is currently up for a GRAMMY®. Red Yarn, aka Andy Furgeson, is an award-winning Texas-born family folk-rocker and puppeteer with seven albums, several video series, and extensive national touring under his belt. With his busy performance schedule, he has built devoted followings in Portland and beyond.  

Smith & Yarn features guest vocals by country powerhouse Rissi Palmer, family reggae star Father Goose, activist-rapper SaulPaul, Karen Kalafatas of Karen K and the Jitterbugs, and Portland kindie rockers Kelli Welli, Mo Phillips. Instrumentalists include Jake Blount, Ben Hunter, and Brian Farrow (all leaders in the Black string band revival), family music pioneers Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer (banjo and mandolin), reggae stalwarts Jubba White (drums) and Dale Haslam (bass), kindie super-producer Dean Jones (keys, trombone, percussion), and Portland country luminary Paul Brainard (pedal steel and dobro). The album will be distributed by Tuff Gong International, the label formed by reggae music legend Bob Marley.