The Long Memory: 20 Years of Free Dirt Records is arriving next Friday November 6, 2026 via the label. Right now, the song “Reckonings” by Nathan Evans Fox has been released. Fox has also released a new album on Free Dirt this year.

Nathan Evans Fox says about the song:

Of all the songs I’ve written for this record, “Reckonings” has become my closest friend. I initially wrote this song for my partner, but it has continued to have new meaning for me as I play it in different seasons of life. Each performance draws out a different theme of grief, promise, love, work, or age, giving me a fresh feel for what the song means for me in the moment. It’s been a gift to have this song outstrip its original intention.

For twenty years, Washington, DC’s Free Dirt Records has shaped the modern Roots music landscape by “championing emerging, tradition-steeped artists.” The Long Memory: 20 Years of Free Dirt Records celebrates two decades of independent music with twelve unreleased tracks from the label’s vault. Unreleased demos, b-sides, and live cuts from Willi Carlisle, Cinder Well, Kaia Kater, and Viv & Riley run alongside brand-new material from newly signed artists like Nathan Evans Fox and Liv Greene and older, archival recordings from early Free Dirt breakouts like The Wilders. The compilation “captures a community forged in tradition and a forward-thinking DIY spirit.”