In February 1999, after taking over an Atlanta college radio station and becoming frustrated at the unavailability of gospel music from before 1940, Lance Ledbetter formed his own label[1] and set out on a search for rare recordings of gospel music. After five years of research, Ledbetter issued Goodbye, Babylon on his newly formed Dust-to-Digital label. The six-CD box set, contained gospel music from 1902 to 1960,[4] and accompanied by a 200-page book and hand-packed with raw cotton in a wooden box, was well-reviewed.[5][6][7] The company's success has been partly attributed to its distinctive packaging, presenting products in pine boxes, silk screen, and raw cotton.[1]
List of Dust-to-Digital Releases | Year | Release | Artist | Format | Notes |
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2003 | Goodbye Babylon | Various Artists | CD box set with book | Nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Historical Album and the Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package |
2004 | Where Will You Be Christmas Day? | CD | Compiled by Lance Ledbetter and Dick Spottswood |
2005 | Fonotone Records Frederick, Maryland (1956-1969) | CD box set with book | Nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package; Compiled by Joe Bussard and Lance Ledbetter |
2006 | How Low Can You Go?: Anthology of the String Bass (1925-1941) | CD box set with book | Nominated for Jazz Journalists Association Award for Reissue/Historical Box Set of the Year; Compiled by Lance Ledbetter and Dick Spottswood |
Desperate Man Blues | CD | Soundtrack to film of the same name; won Living Blues Award for Best Historical Reissue |
Edward Gillan (director) | DVD | Documentary on Joe Bussard |
I Belong to this Band: 85 Years of Sacred Harp Recordings | Various Artists | CD | Compiled by Matt Hinton and Lance Ledbetter |
2007 | Art of Field Recording: Volume I | CD box set with book | Won Grammy Award for Best Historical Album; nominated for Grammy Award for Best Liner Notes; and nominated for Association for Recorded Sound Collections Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research; Compiled by Lance Ledbetter and Art Rosenbaum |
Melodii Tuva: Throat Songs and Folk Tunes from Tuva | CD | Liner notes by Dr. Pekka Gronow |
Black Mirror: Reflections in Global Musics | Compiled by Ian Nagoski |
2008 | Victrola Favorites: Artifacts from Bygone Days | Two CDs with book | Compiled by Rob Millis and Jeffrey Taylor |
2009 | Art of Field Recording: Volume II | CD box set with book | Field recordings by Art Rosenbaum |
Take Me to the Water: Immersion Baptism in Vintage Music and Photography, 1890-1950 | CD with book | Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Historical Album[9] and Association for Recorded Sound Collections Award for Best Research in Recorded Country Music; Compiled by Jim Linderman and Lance Ledbetter |
Au clair de la lune | Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville | Vinyl record |
2010 | Jesus Christ from A to Z | Rev. Johnny L. Jones | Vinyl record |
The Hurricane That Hit Atlanta | Two CD set |
Excavated Shellac: Strings (Guitar, Oud, Lar, Violin and More from the 78rpm Era) | Various Artists | Vinyl/CD | Compiled by Jonathan Ward |
Baby How Can it Be?: Songs of Love, Lust and Contempt from the 1920s and 1930s | CD set | Compiled by John Heneghan and featuring liner notes by Nick Tosches |
Let Your Feet Do the Talkin' | Stewart Copeland (director) | DVD | Documentary on Thomas Maupin and clogging |
Ten Thousand Points of Light: 20th Anniversary Edition | George King (director) | Documentary on an Atlanta family's Christmas light display |
2011 | Ain't No Grave: The Life and Legacy of Brother Claude Ely | Macel Ely II | Book | Includes a CD featuring a sermon by Claude Ely; nominated for Association for Recorded Sound Collections Award for Best Historical Research in Blues, Gospel, Hip-Hop or R&B |
Luk Thung: Classic & Obscure 78s from the Thai Countryside | Various Artists | CD | Compiled by David Murray |
Never a Pal Like Mother: Vintage Songs & Photographs of the One Who's Always True | Book with two CDs | Book features an introduction by Rosanne Cash and an essay by Sarah Bryan |
I Listen to the Wind that Obliterates My Traces: Music in Vernacular Photographs, 1880-1955 | Book with two CDs | Compiled by Steve Roden |
The Fonotone Years 1958–1965 | John Fahey | CD box set | Compiled by Glenn Jones |
Opika Pende: Africa at 78 rpm | Various Artists | CD box set with book | Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Historical Album; compiled by Jonathan Ward |
I Have My Liberty!: Gospel Sounds from Accra, Ghana | CD | Produced by Calpin Hoffman-Williamson |
Qat, Coffee & Qambus: Raw 45s from Yemen | Compiled by Chris Menist |
2012 | Pictures of Sound: One Thousand Years of Educed Audio, 980-1980 | Patrick Feaster | Book and CD | Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Historical Album and won Association for Recorded Sound Collections Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research |
Drop on Down in Florida: Field Recordings of African-American Traditional Music, 1977-1980 | Various Artists | Two CDs and book | Compiled by Dwight DeVane and Blaine Waide |
Just Before Music | Lonnie Holley | CD/Vinyl |
2013 | Greek Rhapsody: Instrumental Music from Greece, 1905-1956 | Various artists | Two CDs and book | Compiled by Tony Klein |
Sorrow Come Pass Me Around: A Survey of Rural Black Religious Music | CD/Vinyl | Liner notes by David Evans |
Kassidat: Raw 45s from Morocco |
Longing for the Past: The 78 rpm Era in Southeast Asia | CD box set with book | Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Historical Album; compiled by David Murray |
Keeping a Record of It | Lonnie Holley | CD/vinyl |
Michigan-I-O: Alan Lomax and the 1938 Library of Congress Folk-Song Expedition | Todd Harvey | Book |
2014 | Lead Kindly Light | Various artists | Two CDs and book | Compiled by Sarah Bryan and Peter Honig |
Parchman Farm: Photographs and Field Recordings, 1947-1959 | Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Historical Album; Compiled by Lance Ledbetter and Nathan Salsburg with essays by Alan Lomax, Anna Lomax Wood and Bruce Jackson |
Corn Dodgers & Hoss Hair Pullers: Arkansas at 78 rpm | CD | Compiled by Tony Russell and Maxine Payne |
Making Pictures Three for a Dime | N/A | Book | Featuring vintage photo booth photography; compiled by Phillip March Jones |
2015 | No More Good Time in the World for Me | J.B. Smith | CD | Field recordings by Bruce Jackson, recorded at the Ramsey Unit in 1965-66; liner notes by Nathan Salsburg |
Ola Belle Reed and Southern Mountain Music on the Mason-Dixon Line | Ola Belle Reed | Two CDs and book | Compiled by Henry Glassie and Clifford Murphy |
The Birth of Rock and Roll: Photographs from the Collection of Jim Linderman | Jim Linderman and Joe Bonomo | Book |
Rawhead & Bloodybones | Brian Harnetty | Two CDs |
Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia's Lost Rock and Roll | Various Artists | CD/Vinyl | Soundtrack for the documentary of the same name |
Folksongs of Another America: Field Recordings from the Upper Midwest, 1937-1946 | CD box set with book and DVD | Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Liner Notes; compiled by James P. Leary |
The Year of Jubilo: 78 rpm Recordings of Songs from the Civil War | CD | Compiled by Joe Bussard |
Excavated Shellac: Reeds (Reed Performances from Tanzania, Kurdistan, Turkey, India, China and More from thw 78 rpm Era) | CD/vinyl | Compiled by Jonathan Ward |
2016 | I'm Always Thinking of You | Bruce Conner | Greeting card | Reproduction of 1957 greeting card |
Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll | Various Artists | Double LP | Expanded vinyl edition of film soundtrack |
Blind Alfred Reed: Appalachian Visionary | Blind Alfred Reed | CD and book | Liner notes by Ted Olson |
Music of Morocco from the Library of Congress: Recorded by Paul Bowles, 1959 | Various Artists | CD box set with book | Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Historical Album; Introduction by Lee Ranaldo and liner notes by Philip Schuyler |
Washington Phillips and His Manzarene Dreams | Washington Phillips | CD and book | Liner notes by Michael Corcoran |
2017 | Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll: Promo 45 | Various Artists | Vinyl Record | Record Store Day Release |
2018 | Voices of Mississippi: Artists and Musicians Documented by William Ferris | Various Artists | CD box set with book and DVD | Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Historical Album; Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Liner Notes; Liner notes by Scott Barretta, David Evans, William Ferris and Tom Rankin |
Listen All Around: The Golden Age of Central and East African Music | Various Artists | Two CDs and book | Liner notes by Alex Perullo and Hugh Tracey |
The Early Films of William Ferris 1968-1975 | Various films | DVD | Seven documentary films by William Ferris with a total running time of 115 minutes |
Voices of Mississippi: Artists and Musicians Documented by William Ferris | Various Artists | Vinyl | Single LP vinyl edition of box set |
1. ^1 2 {{cite web|last1=Fantz|first1=Ashley|title=Label turns forgotten music into gold|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Music/01/28/atlanta.dust.to.digital/|website=www.cnn.com|publisher=CNN|accessdate=11 July 2016}}
2. ^{{cite web|title=The Grammys|url=https://www.grammy.com/nominees/search?artist=&field_nominee_work_value=&year=2008&genre=All|website=www.grammy.com|accessdate=11 July 2016}}
3. ^{{cite web|last1=Williams|first1=Wyatt|title=An Unfinished State|url=http://www.oxfordamerican.org/magazine/item/742-an-unfinished-state|website=www.oxfordamerican.org|accessdate=11 July 2016}}
4. ^{{cite web|last1=Battaglia|first1=Andy|title=Music review: Paul Bowles’ Moroccan musical survey from the 50s|url=http://www.thenational.ae/arts-life/the-review/music-review-paul-bowles-moroccan-musical-survey-from-the-50s|website=www.thenational.ae|publisher=Abu Dhabi Media|accessdate=11 July 2016}}
5. ^{{cite web|last1=Miller|first1=Michael H.|title=Dust-to-Digital Brings Brother Claude Ely Back to Life|url=http://observer.com/2011/06/dust-to-digital-brings-brother-claude-ely-back-to-life/|website=www.observer.com|publisher=Observer|accessdate=11 July 2016}}
6. ^{{cite web|title=Goodbye Babylon|url=http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/news/Goodbye_Babylon/12432/p1/|website=www.crossrhythms.co.uk|accessdate=19 April 2010|date=15 February 2004}}
7. ^{{cite web|title=Dusted Reviews: V/A - Goodbye, Babylon|url=http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/8|website=www.dustedmagazine.com|accessdate=19 April 2010|date=16 April 2004}}
8. ^{{cite web|last1=Williams|first1=Wyatt|title=An Unfinished State|url=http://www.oxfordamerican.org/magazine/item/742-an-unfinished-state|website=Oxford American|accessdate=5 January 2016|date=5 January 2016}}
9. ^"Grand Haven collector nominated for Grammy for historical album". The Grand Rapids Press, John Sinkevics January 31, 2010