Pilgrim Productions’ Voices Across America began as a hand-built, non-commercial trove of field recordings gathered and posted by June Lydic for anyone to hear and download. Over time the original site slipped out of her control and became unstable. With June’s blessing, singer-archivist Kyle Johnston is recovering the materials, cleaning up files and metadata, and re-presenting the collection on a dedicated Bandcamp account—still free to stream and download, honoring the original promise.
View the Project Page to learn more!
A note for shape-note singers
There is a wealth of shape-note material in the original trove (Sacred Harp: Denson, Cooper, and White!, Christian Harmony, Old Harp, Harmonia Sacra, etc.). As of today, those shape-note recordings have not yet been transferred to the Bandcamp archive. Kyle—being a shape-note singer himself—intends to bring them over, but is prioritizing careful, accurate preservation. They’ll arrive in due time as the broader collection is processed.
About the audio quality
Many of these are amateur field recordings. The fidelity often suits documentation more than “pleasant listening,” but that documentary character is exactly what gives them enormous value: dates, leaders, local styles, and repertoire that seldom make it to commercial releases.
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