Dust-to-Digital

Dust-to-Digital
Dust-to-Digital
Founded	1999
Founder	Lance Ledbetter, April Ledbetter
Genre	Blues, country, folk, gospel, jazz, and world music
Country of origin	U.S.
Location	Atlanta, Georgia
Official website	www.dust-digital.com

Last updated November 05, 2024

Dust-to-Digital started as a record company that specialized in documenting the history of American popular music, including historical recordings of blues, gospel, and country music. They've since expanded their catalogue to include a breadth of international music, and their full discography has over 70 releases from all over the world. Their method combines rare recordings with historic images, photographs, and detailed texts describing artists and their works.^[1] The company has won multiple Grammy Awards.^[2]^[3]

History

In February 1999, while working at WRAS, an Atlanta college radio station, and becoming frustrated at the unavailability of gospel music recordings from the 78 RPM era, Lance Ledbetter set out on a search for rare recordings of gospel music. Aiding in his search was his then girlfriend, April, who has continued to work with Lance ever since. The culmination of five years of research, Goodbye, Babylon was released in 2003 on Ledbetter's newly formed label, Dust-to-Digital. The six-CD box set, containing gospel music from 1902 to 1960,^[4] accompanied by a 200-page book, was well received.^[5]^[6]^[7] Known for their deluxe packaging and in-depth research, Dust-to-Digital quickly established itself as the gold-standard for archival releases.

Since 2004, Dust-to-Digital has issued more than 70 titles. Their 2007 release Art of Field Recording Volume 1: Fifty Years of Traditional American Music Documented by Art Rosenbaum, a collection of recordings by folklorist and artist Art Rosenbaum, won a Grammy for Best Historical Album. In 2012, Lance and April launched their nonprofit Music Memory, an organization dedicated to the preservation of recorded music of all types & genres.

In May 2017, Dust-to-Digital began posting Instagram videos of music performances of all kinds, from rare historical television footage to people making music out of everyday objects. The label's account has since garnered over a million followers, and Dust-to-Digital has become known as a hub for footage of engaging musical performances on social media.

Their box-set Voices of Mississippi: Artists and Musicians Documented by William Ferris won two Grammy Awards in 2019 for Best Historical Album and Best Liner Notes. Based on the award-winning set, the Voices of Mississippi Live Tour began in 2022, and the program features live musical performances by blues and gospel musicians integrated with film, audio recordings, and rare photographs.

Releases

List of Dust-to-Digital Releases
Year	Release	Artist	Format	Notes
2003	Goodbye, Babylon	Various Artists	CD box set with book	Nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Historical Album and the Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package
2004	Where Will You Be Christmas Day?		CD	Compiled by Lance Ledbetter and Dick Spottswood
2005	Fonotone Records Frederick, Maryland (1956-1969)		CD box set with book	Nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package; Compiled by Joe Bussard and Lance Ledbetter
2006	How Low Can You Go?: Anthology of the String Bass (1925-1941)		CD box set with book	Nominated for Jazz Journalists Association Award for Reissue/Historical Box Set of the Year; Compiled by Lance Ledbetter and Dick Spottswood
	Desperate Man Blues		CD	Soundtrack to film of the same name; won Living Blues Award for Best Historical Reissue
	Desperate Man Blues	Edward Gillan (director)	DVD	Documentary on Joe Bussard
	I Belong to this Band: 85 Years of Sacred Harp Recordings	Various Artists	CD	Compiled by Matt Hinton and Lance Ledbetter
2007	Art of Field Recording Sampler		CD	Won Grammy Award for Best Historical Album; nominated for Grammy Award for Best Liner Notes; and nominated for Association for Recorded Sound Collections Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research; Compiled by Lance Ledbetter and Art Rosenbaum
2007	Art of Field Recording Volume I: Fifty Years Of Traditional American Music Documented By Art Rosenbaum		CD box set with book
	Melodii Tuva: Throat Songs and Folk Tunes from Tuva		CD	Liner notes by Dr. Pekka Gronow
	Black Mirror: Reflections in Global Musics		CD	Compiled by Ian Nagoski
2008	Victrola Favorites: Artifacts from Bygone Days		Two CDs with book	Compiled by Rob Millis and Jeffrey Taylor
2009	Art of Field Recording Volume II: Fifty Years Of Traditional American Music Documented By Art Rosenbaum		CD box set with book	Field recordings by Art Rosenbaum
	Take Me to the Water: Immersion Baptism in Vintage Music and Photography, 1890-1950		CD with book	Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Historical Album ^[8] and Association for Recorded Sound Collections Award for Best Research in Recorded Country Music; Compiled by Jim Linderman and Lance Ledbetter
	Au clair de la lune	Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville	Vinyl record
2010	Jesus Christ from A to Z	Rev. Johnny L. Jones	Vinyl record
	The Hurricane That Hit Atlanta	Rev. Johnny L. Jones	Two CD set
	Excavated Shellac: Strings (Guitar, Oud, Lar, Violin and More from the 78rpm Era)	Various Artists	Vinyl/CD	Compiled by Jonathan Ward
	Baby How Can it Be?: Songs of Love, Lust and Contempt from the 1920s and 1930s	Various Artists	CD set	Compiled by John Heneghan and featuring liner notes by Nick Tosches
	Let Your Feet Do the Talkin'	Stewart Copeland (director)	DVD	Documentary on Thomas Maupin and clogging
	Ten Thousand Points of Light: 20th Anniversary Edition	George King (director)	DVD	Documentary on an Atlanta family's Christmas light display
2011	Ain't No Grave: The Life and Legacy of Brother Claude Ely	Brother Claude Ely	Book	Written by Macel Ely II. Includes a CD featuring a sermon by Claude Ely; nominated for Association for Recorded Sound Collections Award for Best Historical Research in Blues, Gospel, Hip-Hop or R&B
	Luk Thung: Classic & Obscure 78s from the Thai Countryside	Various Artists	CD	Compiled by David Murray
	Never a Pal Like Mother: Vintage Songs & Photographs of the One Who's Always True		Book with two CDs	Book features an introduction by Rosanne Cash and an essay by Sarah Bryan
	I Listen to the Wind that Obliterates My Traces: Music in Vernacular Photographs, 1880-1955		Book with two CDs	Compiled by Steve Roden
	Your Past Comes Back To Haunt You The Fonotone Years 1958–1965	John Fahey	CD box set	Compiled by Glenn Jones
	Opika Pende: Africa at 78 rpm	Various Artists	CD box set with book	Compiled by Jonathan Ward; Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Historical Album, 2003
	I Have My Liberty!: Gospel Sounds from Accra, Ghana		CD	Produced by Calpin Hoffman-Williamson
	Qat, Coffee & Qambus: Raw 45s from Yemen		CD	Compiled by Chris Menist
2012	Pictures of Sound: One Thousand Years of Educed Audio, 980-1980		Book and CD	Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Historical Album and won Association for Recorded Sound Collections Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research
	Drop on Down in Florida: Field Recordings of African-American Traditional Music, 1977-1980	Various Artists	Two CDs and book	Compiled by Dwight DeVane and Blaine Waide
	Just Before Music	Lonnie Holley	CD/Vinyl
2013	Greek Rhapsody: Instrumental Music from Greece, 1905-1956	Various artists	Two CDs and book	Compiled by Tony Klein
	Sorrow Come Pass Me Around: A Survey of Rural Black Religious Music		CD/Vinyl	Liner notes by David Evans
	Kassidat: Raw 45s from Morocco		CD/Vinyl
	Longing for the Past: The 78 rpm Era in Southeast Asia		CD box set with book	Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Historical Album; compiled by David Murray
	Keeping a Record of It	Lonnie Holley	CD/vinyl
	Michigan-I-O: Alan Lomax and the 1938 Library of Congress Folk-Song Expedition	Various Artists	Book	Liner notes written by Todd Harvey
2014	Lead Kindly Light	Various artists	Two CDs and book	Compiled by Sarah Bryan and Peter Honig
	Parchman Farm: Photographs and Field Recordings, 1947-1959		Two CDs and book	Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Historical Album; Compiled by Lance Ledbetter and Nathan Salsburg with essays by Alan Lomax, Anna Lomax Wood and Bruce Jackson
	Arkansas at 78 rpm: Corn Dodgers & Hoss Hair Pullers		CD	Compiled by Tony Russell and Maxine Payne
	Making Pictures Three for a Dime		Book	Featuring vintage photo booth photography; compiled by Phillip March Jones
2015	No More Good Time in the World for Me	J.B. Smith	CD	Field recordings by Bruce Jackson, recorded at the Ramsey Unit in 1965-66; liner notes by Nathan Salsburg
	Ola Belle Reed and Southern Mountain Music on the Mason-Dixon Line	Ola Belle Reed	Two CDs and book	Compiled by Henry Glassie and Clifford Murphy
	The Birth of Rock and Roll: Photographs from the Collection of Jim Linderman	Jim Linderman and Joe Bonomo	Book
	Rawhead & Bloodybones	Brian Harnetty	Two CDs
	Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia's Lost Rock and Roll	Various Artists	CD/Vinyl	Soundtrack for the documentary of the same name
	Folksongs of Another America: Field Recordings from the Upper Midwest, 1937-1946		CD box set with book and DVD	Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Liner Notes; compiled by James P. Leary
	Joe Bussard presents: The Year of Jubilo - 78 rpm Recordings of Songs from the Civil War		CD	Compiled by Joe Bussard
	Excavated Shellac: Reeds (Reed Performances from Tanzania, Kurdistan, Turkey, India, China and More from the 78 rpm Era)		CD/vinyl	Compiled by Jonathan Ward
2016	Bruce Conner: I'm Always Thinking of You	Bruce Conner	Greeting card	Reproduction of 1957 greeting card
	Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll	Various Artists	Double LP	Expanded vinyl edition of film soundtrack
	Blind Alfred Reed: Appalachian Visionary	Blind Alfred Reed	CD and book	Liner notes by Ted Olson
	Music of Morocco from the Library of Congress: Recorded by Paul Bowles, 1959	Various Artists	CD box set with book	Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Historical Album; Introduction by Lee Ranaldo and liner notes by Philip Schuyler
	Washington Phillips and His Manzarene Dreams	Washington Phillips	CD and book	Liner notes by Michael Corcoran
2017	Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll: Promo 45	Various Artists	Vinyl Record	Record Store Day Release
2018	Voices of Mississippi: Artists and Musicians Documented by William Ferris	Various Artists	CD box set with book and DVD	Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Historical Album; Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Liner Notes; Liner notes by Scott Barretta, David Evans, William Ferris and Tom Rankin
	Listen All Around: The Golden Age of Central and East African Music	Various Artists	Two CDs and book	Liner notes by Alex Perullo and Hugh Tracey
	The Early Films of William Ferris 1968-1975	Various films	DVD	Seven documentary films by William Ferris with a total running time of 115 minutes
	Voices of Mississippi: Artists and Musicians Documented by William Ferris	Various Artists	Vinyl	Single LP vinyl edition of box set
2020	Excavated Shellac: An Alternate History of the World’s Music	Various Artists	Digital and box-set, 100 tracks with 186-page pdf	Compiled by Jonathan Ward. Nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Historical Album.
2022	Hard Times Never Kill	Gonora Sounds	Digital only	Produced by David Aglow
2022	From the Lion Mountain: Traditional Music of Yeha, Ethiopia	Various Artists	Digital only	Produced by David Evans
2023	Bolinus Brandaris	Various Artists	CD and hardcover book	Produced by David Aglow

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References

↑ Fantz, Ashley. "Label turns forgotten music into gold". www.cnn.com. CNN. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
↑ "The Grammys". www.grammy.com. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
↑ Williams, Wyatt. "An Unfinished State". www.oxfordamerican.org. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
↑ Battaglia, Andy. "Music review: Paul Bowles' Moroccan musical survey from the 50s". www.thenational.ae. Abu Dhabi Media. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
↑ Miller, Michael H. "Dust-to-Digital Brings Brother Claude Ely Back to Life". www.observer.com. Observer. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
↑ "Goodbye Babylon". www.crossrhythms.co.uk. February 15, 2004. Retrieved April 19, 2010.
↑ "Dusted Reviews: V/A - Goodbye, Babylon". www.dustedmagazine.com. April 16, 2004. Retrieved April 19, 2010.
↑ "Grand Haven collector nominated for Grammy for historical album" . The Grand Rapids Press, John Sinkevics January 31, 2010

Notes

Bilger, Burkhard (April 28, 2008). "The Last Verse". The New Yorker . Retrieved February 9, 2016.
Petrusich, Amanda (December 10, 2007). "Various Artists: The Art of Field Recording, Vol. 1 review". Pitchfork . Retrieved February 9, 2016.
Radford, Chad (January 6, 2010). "Decade in Review: Goodbye Babylon Revisited revisited". Creative Loafing. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
Steele, Alicia. "Dust-to-Digital". This is Atlanta with Alicia Steele. PBA30 . Retrieved February 9, 2016.

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[autogenerated1-1] Fantz, Ashley. "Label turns forgotten music into gold". www.cnn.com. CNN. Retrieved July 11, 2016.

[2] "The Grammys". www.grammy.com. Retrieved July 11, 2016.

[3] Williams, Wyatt. "An Unfinished State". www.oxfordamerican.org. Retrieved July 11, 2016.

[4] Battaglia, Andy. "Music review: Paul Bowles' Moroccan musical survey from the 50s". www.thenational.ae. Abu Dhabi Media. Retrieved July 11, 2016.

[5] Miller, Michael H. "Dust-to-Digital Brings Brother Claude Ely Back to Life". www.observer.com. Observer. Retrieved July 11, 2016.

[Goodbye-6] "Goodbye Babylon". www.crossrhythms.co.uk. February 15, 2004. Retrieved April 19, 2010.

[Dusted-7] "Dusted Reviews: V/A - Goodbye, Babylon". www.dustedmagazine.com. April 16, 2004. Retrieved April 19, 2010.

[8] "Grand Haven collector nominated for Grammy for historical album" . The Grand Rapids Press, John Sinkevics January 31, 2010

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Dust-to-Digital

Founded	1999 (1999)
Founder	Lance Ledbetter, April Ledbetter
Genre	Blues, country, folk, gospel, jazz, and world music
Country of origin	U.S.
Location	Atlanta, Georgia
Official website	www.dust-digital.com