Just Who Were The Folk Musicians Alan Lomax Recorded?

“The thousands of field recordings of American folk and vernacular music that were made by Mr. Lomax and his colleagues rank high among the cultural treasures to be found in the Library of Congress. … Next to nothing is known about most of the people who cut those rough-hewn recordings, nearly all of whom were amateurs or semiprofessionals who made music purely for their own pleasure and that of their families and friends.”