Origin UK Years active 2004 (2004)–present Active from 2007 | Genres Contemporary folk Labels ECC | |
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Website www.theimaginedvillage.com Albums Empire & Love, Bending the Dark Members Profiles | ||
The Imagined Village is a folk musical project founded by Simon Emmerson of the Afro Celt Sound System. It is intended to produce modern folk music that represents modern multiculturalism in the United Kingdom and as such, features musicians from a wide variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The name of the project comes from the 1993 book The Imagined Village by Georgina Boyes.
Contents
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. 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 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.
The imagined village cold hailey rainy night
On tour
The Imagined Village live band have toured since November 2007. The original lineup consisted of Billy Bragg, Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, Sheila Chandra, Chris Wood and The Young Coppers, backed by a band featuring Simon Emmerson, Johnny Kalsi, Francis Hylton, Andy Gangadeen, Sheema Mukherjee and Barney Morse Brown. They also appeared on Later with Jools Holland.
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, Andy Gangadeen, Simon Richmond, Sheema Mukherjee and Barney Morse Brown.
In 2011 Jackie Oates joined the band for their live performances including at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival.
Songs
Space GirlEmpire & Love · 2010
My Son JohnEmpire & Love · 2010
Washing SongBending the Dark · 2012