The Imagined Village is a

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

project founded by

Simon Emmerson Simon Emmerson (born 12 February 1956) is an English record producer, guitarist, DJ, musical director at Lush, and founder of the group Afro Celt Sound System. He is also the main organiser of The Imagined Village, a collaborative work from m ...

Afro Celt Sound System Afro Celt Sound System is a British musical group who fuse electronic music with traditional Gaelic and West African music. Afro Celt Sound System was formed in 1995 by producer-guitarist Simon Emmerson, and feature a wide range of guest artists. ...

. It is intended to produce modern folk music that represented modern

multiculturalism The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "Pluralism (political theory), ethnic pluralism", with the tw ...

in the United Kingdom and as such, featured musicians from a wide variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The name of the project came from the 1993 book ''The Imagined Village'' by Georgina Boyes. The project started in 2004, and led to the release of an eponymous album in 2007 by a collective of artists on

Real World Records Real World Records is a British record label specializing in world music. It was founded in 1989 by English musician Peter Gabriel and original members of WOMAD. A majority of the works released on Real World Records feature music recorded at ...

. Some of the tracks on it are modern re-interpretations of traditional folk songs. ''The Imagined Village E.P.'' was released earlier in 2007, and is a remix of the album tracks. The 2008

BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music, with the aim of raising the profile of folk and acoustic music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British ra ...

voted "Cold, Hailey, Rainy Night" as best traditional track. In 2009, the project moved to a new record label, ECC Records, and a second album, ''Empire & Love'' was released in January 2010, followed by ''Bending the Dark'' in May 2012.

Discography

''The Imagined Village''

''The Imagined Village E.P.''

''Empire & Love''

''Bending the Dark''

Line-ups

The Imagined Village live band have toured since November 2007. The original lineup consisted of

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is ...

Martin Carthy Martin Carthy MBE (born 21 May 1941) is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, and later artists such as ...

Eliza Carthy Eliza Amy Forbes Carthy, MBE (born 23 August 1975) is an English folk musician known for both singing and playing the fiddle. She is the daughter of English folk musicians singer/guitarist Martin Carthy and singer Norma Waterson. Life and care ...

Sheila Chandra Sheila Chandra (born 14 March 1965) is a retired English pop singer of Indian descent. She is no longer able to perform, as the result of burning mouth syndrome which she has had since 2010. Indian–Western pop fusion period Sheila Chandra wa ...

, Chris Wood and The Young Coppers, backed by a band featuring

Johnny Kalsi Johnny Kalsi is a British Indian ''dhol'' drum performer residing in London. He rose to prominence as a former member of Transglobal Underground and the founder of the Dhol Foundation. He also is a member of the Afro Celt Sound System and The Ima ...

, Francis Hylton,

Andy Gangadeen Andy may refer to: People *Andy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Horace Andy (born 1951), Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer born Horace Hinds *Katja Andy (1907–2013), German-American pianist and piano ...

Sheema Mukherjee Sheema Mukherjee is a British composer and sitar player. She is best known for her work with musical collective Transglobal Underground and The Imagined Village. She is the niece of sitarist Nikhil Banerjee. In 2005, ''Billboard'' referred to he ...

and

Barney Morse Brown Barney may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barney (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Barney (surname), a list of people Film and television * the title character of ''Barney & Friends'', an American live actio ...

. They also appeared on ''

Later with Jools Holland ''Later... with Jools Holland'' (also known as ''Even Later... with Jools Holland'', and previously known as ''Later Live... with Jools Holland'' and ''...Later with Jools Holland'') is a contemporary British music television show hosted by Jo ...

''. A revised lineup was announced for their 2010 tour, coinciding with the release of ''Empire & Love'': Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, and Chris Wood, backed by a band featuring Simon Emmerson, Johnny Kalsi,

Ali Friend ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...

, Andy Gangadeen, Simon Richmond, Sheema Mukherjee and Barney Morse Brown. In 2011

Jackie Oates Jackie Oates is an English folk singer and fiddle player. Life Oates was born in Congleton in Cheshire in 1983 but grew up in Staffordshire. At the age of 18, she moved to Devon to study English literature at Exeter University and was based in ...

replaced Chris Wood for their live performances including at the

Shrewsbury Folk Festival Shrewsbury Folk Festival is an annual festival of folk and world music and traditional dance held in the town of Shrewsbury in Shropshire, England. It takes place over four days on and around the UK Late Summer bank holiday weekend (usually the ...

. The musicians credited on ''Bending the Dark'' (2012) were Eliza Carthy, Martin Carthy, Simon Emmerson, Ali Friend, Andy Gangadeen, Johnny Kalsi, Sheema Mukherjee, Barney Morse Brown, Jackie Oates and Simon Richmond.

References

External links

official website (Real World Records)official website (ECC Records)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Imagined Village 2007 albums Folk albums by British artists Real World Records albums