Dust-to-Digital

History

In February 1999, while working at WRAS, an Atlanta college radio station, Lance Ledbetter became frustrated at the unavailability of gospel music recordings from the 78 rpm era and set out to search for rare gospel recordings. His then-girlfriend, April, aided in the search and has continued to work with him since. After five years of research, the six-CD box set Goodbye, Babylon was released in 2003 on the newly formed label Dust-to-Digital, containing gospel music from 1902 to 1960 with a 200-page book. Since 2004, Dust-to-Digital has issued more than 70 titles. Their 2007 release Art of Field Recording Volume 1 won a Grammy for Best Historical Album. In 2012, Lance and April launched the nonprofit Dust-to-Digital Foundation, dedicated to preserving recorded music of all types and genres. In May 2017, the label began posting Instagram videos of music performances, from rare historical television footage to people making music out of everyday objects, and the account has since garnered over a million followers. Their box-set Voices of Mississippi won two Grammy Awards in 2019 for Best Historical Album and Best Liner Notes, and the Voices of Mississippi Live Tour began in 2022, integrating live musical performances with film, audio recordings, and rare photographs.