Dust-to-Digital

History

In 1999, Lance Ledbetter, working at Atlanta college radio station WRAS, grew frustrated that gospel music from the 78 rpm era was hard to find. He started hunting for rare recordings, with help from his then-girlfriend April, who has remained his collaborator ever since. After five years of digging, they released Goodbye, Babylon in 2003 on their new label, Dust-to-Digital. That six-CD set, covering gospel from 1902 to 1960 and packed with a 200-page book, was a hit.

The label quickly earned a reputation for lavish packaging and thorough research, setting a high bar for archival releases. Since 2004, Dust-to-Digital has put out over 70 titles. Their 2007 release, Art of Field Recording Volume 1, a collection of folklorist Art Rosenbaum’s recordings, won a Grammy for Best Historical Album. In 2012, Lance and April founded the Dust-to-Digital Foundation, a nonprofit focused on preserving recorded music of every kind.

In May 2017, the label started posting Instagram videos of musical performances—ranging from rare old TV clips to people making music with everyday objects. The account has since gained more than a million followers, making Dust-to-Digital a go-to hub for engaging performance footage. Their box set Voices of Mississippi, based on William Ferris’s documentation, won two Grammys in 2019, for Best Historical Album and Best Liner Notes. That set inspired the Voices of Mississippi Live Tour, which began in 2022, blending live blues and gospel performances with film, audio recordings, and rare photos.