Thrilled to announce that I have one more GRAMMY Award as of last Sunday! Dust-to-Digital’s, Voices of Mississippi: Artists and Musicians Documented by William Ferris won for Best Historical Album and my specific GRAMMY was for the restoration and mastering work I did on the project. Fellow recipients were compilation producers April Ledbetter, Steven Lance Ledbetter and of course Bill Ferris.
This award is especially meaningful for me because of outstanding projects nominated with us in our category; Numero Group's, Any Other Way (Jackie Shane), Sony Classical's, A Rhapsody In Blue (Oscar Levant), Bear Family's, At The Louisiana Hayride Tonight and Battleground Korea: Songs and Sounds of America's Forgotten War. It's truly an honor to be nominated with all the talented people involved in these records.
Voices of Mississippi represents the culmination of Bill Ferris’ career as a folklorist, historian and advocate for Southern culture. In the press room after receiving his GRAMMY, Bill explained why he started documenting rural life in Mississippi
“I grew up on a farm in Mississippi. My family were the only whites there and as a child, I started going to a black church and learned the hymns. As I grew older, I realized there were no hymnals in the church and when the families were gone, the music would be gone.”
I’m happy that I was able to help Bill ensure that the music and stories of people who never thought they would be heard receive the attention they deserve.
(L-R) William Ferris, April Ledbetter, Steven Lance Ledbetter, Michael Graves at the 61st GRAMMY Awards, Feb 10, 2019.