The Imagined Village

If you think you know about English folk music, think again. The Imagined Village, the brainchild of producer and musician Simon Emmerson, has recast age old traditions in the shape of the 21st Century. A daring mix of ancient and modern, The Imagined Village fuses fiddles and squeezebox with dub beats and sitars. To do so it has gathered an extraordinary array of talent: Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, Sheila Chandra, Billy Bragg, Paul Weller, Tunng, Transglobal Underground and Benjamin Zephaniah among others. Emmerson has a history of ground-breaking fusions, as founder of jazz-soul group Working Week and The Afro Celt Sound System, and as a Grammy-nominated producer of world acts like Manu Dibango and Baba Maal.

"After travelling the world I thought it was time to explore my own roots, to look at the earth under my feet." Simon Emmerson

The Imagined Village project grew out of a discussion prompted by the BBC Radio 3 documentary A Place Called England which addressed the blind spot amongst many of the English concerning their own musical heritage. The Imagined Village is also influenced by Georgina Boyes’ eponymous book that examined the pivotal impact the Edwardian song collectors, most notably Cecil Sharp, made on the development of an English folk music repertoire.

Billy Bragg, whose book The Progressive Patriot addresses the same issue of English identity, agrees. “In any village there’s a meeting between the custodians of the past and the architects of the future, and The Imagined Village reflects just that.”

Further reading

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Spafford Campbell sign to Real World Records and announce album Tomorrow Held

The duo previously released the EP 102 Metres East on Real World X.

Exploring Colombian artist Savan’s music inspired by Yagé medicine ceremonies

The new Real World X release is an eight-track aural journey to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.

Real World Sessions: Owen Spafford & Louis Campbell, 5 December 2023

New folk duo Owen Spafford & Louis Campbell visited the studio to record a new EP for Real World X.