Jake Blount (pronounced: blunt) is an award-winning interpreter of Black folk traditions. A skilled performer of spirituals, blues and string band repertoire, Blount has performed at the Kennedy Center, the Newport Folk Festival, NPR's Tiny Desk, and numerous other venues across and beyond the United States. He was a 2020 recipient of the Steve Martin Banjo Prize, and was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2021 International Folk Music Awards. His newest release, The New Faith, is the latest installment of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings' African American Legacy Series. An Afrofuturist imagining of Black folk music in a world reshaped by climate change, the album received positive coverage from The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times, Bandcamp and more. It appeared on "Best of 2022" lists from outlets including Rolling Stone, Financial Times, Songlines, Folk Alley and NPR.