Vital folk recordings revisited by 14-piece ensemble.

London’s Barbican has announced a special concert exploring the field recordings of acclaimed American ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax – the man who introduced Dylan to folk music and preserved countless traditional folk songs for future generations.

Sounds of the South will see a 14 piece ensemble reinterpret Lomax’s groundbreaking 1961 six-LP release Sounds Of The South – A Musical Journey From The Georgia Sea Islands To The Mississippi Delta Recorded In The Field By Alan Lomax.

Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, psych-folk artists Megafaun, Matthew E. White’s jazz collective Fight the Big Bull and Frazey Ford of Canadian alt-folkers The Be Good Tanyas will all perform on the night. The ensemble performed the same show in the U.S. in 2011, but are now bringing it to the UK for the first time.

Gathered from the American southeast over a two-year period in the 1950s, the field recordings cover the full spectrum of traditional American music from country, bluegrass and folk to gospel and blues. The resulting archive is considered the most important compilation of American folk music in existence, and has been mined for samples by many (most famously Moby).

Sounds of the South takes place at the Barbican on 15 December 2014. Grab tickets here.