"Diamond Joe"
The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress challenged musical artists to interpret material from its unparalleled archive of ethnographic recordings of traditional folk music. Artists were asked to put their own spin on these archival treasures, and to perform them at a special showcase during the Folk Alliance International conference in Montreal, Canada in 2019. The showcase was recorded for this webcast. This video features Beacon, New York-based fiddler Bruce Molsky performing the song "Diamond Joe" from a field recording of prisoner "Big Charlie" Butler made by John Lomax at Parchman Penitentiary in Parchman, Mississippi in 1939. John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip, AFC 1939/001.
Link to field recording: https://www.loc.gov/item/lomaxbib000377/
For more information, visit https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-9056