Unboxing hidden music history: Lou Curtiss' Whimsical Collection and vinyl's survival

Lou Curtiss dedicated his life to preserving forgotten music — and now his extraordinary personal collection is being shared with the community he nurtured for decades. At Folk Arts Rare Records, thousands of vinyl records, CDs, tapes and rare recordings are being unboxed, cataloged and placed on shelves for music lovers to explore and purchase.

In this episode, we meet Brendan Boyle, who began shopping at Folk Arts as a teenager and now owns and runs the store. We dive into Lou's legacy, including his role in founding the San Diego Folk Festival, supporting local artists like Thomas Shaw and preserving recordings that might otherwise have vanished.

Courtesy of Brendan Boyle

Along the way, we explore how vinyl survived the '90s and 2000s and why physical media still matters in an age of streaming and digital fatigue.

From obscure blues and folk records to legendary mixtapes, Lou's Whimsical Collection lives on, offering a tactile, personal and deeply human connection to the music that shapes culture.

Guests:

• Brendan Boyle, Folk Arts Rare Records owner
• Andrew Mall, Associate Professor of Music at Northeastern University in Boston, Mass.

Music heard in this episode:

• "Rock My Baby Back Home" by Thomas Shaw (1972)
• "Broke and Ain't Got a Dime" by Thomas Shaw (1972)
• "Martin Luther King" by Thomas Shaw (1972)

• Portuguese String Music (1908-1931) 
• "George Collins" by Kathy & Carol (1965)
• "Sprig of Thyme" by Kathy & Carol (1965)
• "Atomic Cocktail" by Slim Gaillard (1945)
• "Frank Rhoads Round" by Slim Gaillard (1962)
• "Pick Poor Robin Clean" by Geeshie Wiley & Elvie Thomas (1931)
• "Set Your Chickens Free" by The Hub City Movers (1969)

Mentioned in this episode:

• "Sinners"

• "High Fidelity"
• Part Time Lover
• Document Records

Sources: 

• Thomas Shaw (Lou Curtiss, San Diego Troubadour, 2013) 
• Material Drives on the World War II Home Front (National Park Service, 2024)
• Shellac to vinyl, how World War Two changed the record (Norfolk Record Office, 2020)
• How a 1927 Blues recording found its way into a 21st-century vampire film — and sparked a historical detective story (Document Records, 2025)
• Folk Arts Rare Records brings Lou Curtiss' music collection to the people (Julia Dixon Evans, KPBS, 2026)

From KPBS Public Media, The Finest is a podcast about the people, art and movements redefining culture in San Diego. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or click the play button at the top of this page and subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Pocket Casts, Pandora, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

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