Alan Lomax, the American Folk Song Revivalist
He made thousands of recordings of living folk music
Legendary folk singer Pete Seeger called Alan Lomax “the man who is more responsible than any other person for the twentieth-century folk song revival.” Read on to find out why Lomax deserved such praise.
A family affair
In 1933, eighteen-year-old Alan Lomax, along with his father John Lomax, began to gather thousands of field recordings of folk musicians in regional areas of the United States and in the Bahamas and Haiti.
John Lomax was a pioneer in folklore research and his son followed in his footsteps. Early in his life, Alan’s passion was the preservation of traditional music and he made it a lifelong goal.
The father-and-son team first made recordings of music by cowboys, prisoners, plantation workers and others in an effort to bring folk music to a wider audience. Then Alan continued the process on his own, adding countless interviews to the musical recordings.
Showcasing talent
Alan himself was a musician, but he expanded his interest in music to documentation by writing about, producing shows, recording and filming musicians and musical performances. He is credited with exposing national audiences…
