I think that a lot of this conversation is jumping to conclusion. Why not wait until the recording comes out before passing judgement on what they have done?

Did you ever hear Arlo & Woody singing "This Land" together?   I don't think that there was any disrepect given in that case.   I do remember a rather shoddy CD of various Irish musicians that were sampled and mixed into a "new age" orchestral piece.   I couldn't listen to it.

Elijah hit the nail on the head.   Is it folk music? Well, is Woody Guthrie technically a folk artist since he wrote his songs? That is a whole different discussion.

Also, I don't think Rounder is trying to shove anything down anyones throat with this. As far as I know they are not marketing this as a way of introducing new audiences to old artists - it is simply ONE project that Scott Billington and Steve Reynolds are undertaking.   Rounder CONTINUES to release archive recordings from the Alan Lomax archive, and personally I think they should be commended for these original recordings. Let's face it, the market for these field recordings is limited and Rounder is not purchasing a new company jet because of them.

Here is an interview with one of the producers, Scott Billington. He does mention this project towards the end of the interview. I don't think his intention is to make a quick buck or ruin the reputation of any of these artists.

Scott Billington interview


By the way, this is the workshop that started this whole discussion (from www.folk.org):

Remixing Lomax
Convention Center Room 209/210

Moderator: Scott Billington, Rounder Records, Cambridge, MA
Panelists: Dirk Powell, Louisiana Folk Roots, Breaux Bridge, LA
Anna Lomax Chairetakis, Alan Lomax Collection, New York, NY

The New Orleans-based recording team of Scott Billington and Steve Reynolds, calling themselves Tangle Eye, have recently completed an album of remixes that use Alan Lomax's Southern Journey recordings as source materials, a process they describe as "akin to creating new settings for precious gemstones." Producer Billington, whose recordings have won two Grammy Awards and nine Grammy nominations, will be joined by multi-genre musician Dirk Powell, who worked on the Alan Lomax remix project, for a discussion of the technical, musical and ethical challenges of remixing folk music's past.