The Imagined Village

The Imagined Village
The Imagined Village playing in 2010
Background information
Origin	UK
Genres	Contemporary folk
Years active	2004 (2004)–present
Labels	ECC
Associated acts	Paul Weller, Billy Bragg
Website	www.theimaginedvillage.com

The Imagined Village
Studio album by Various Artists
Released	2007
Recorded	2007
Genre	Nu folk, dub poetry, world fusion
Label	Real World Records
Producer	Virgin Records

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
The Guardian	link

The Imagined Village is a folk musical project founded by Simon Emmerson of the Afro Celt Sound System. It is intended to produce modern folk music that represents modern multiculturalism in the United Kingdom and as such, features musicians from a wide variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The name of the project comes from the 1993 book The Imagined Village by Georgina Boyes.

The project started in 2004, and led to the release of an eponymous album in 2007 by a collective of artists on Real World Records. Some of the tracks on it are modern re-interpretations of traditional folk songs.

The Imagined Village E.P. was released earlier in 2007, and is a remix of the album tracks. The 2008 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards voted "Cold, Hailey, Rainy Night" as best traditional track.

In 2009, the project moved to a new record label, ECC Records, and a second album, Empire & Love was released in January 2010.

The Imagined Village live band have toured since November 2007. The original lineup consisted of Billy Bragg, Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, Sheila Chandra, Chris Wood and The Young Coppers, backed by a band featuring Simon Emmerson, Johnny Kalsi, Francis Hylton, Andy Gangadeen, Sheema Mukherjee and Barney Morse Brown. They also appeared on Later with Jools Holland.

A revised lineup was announced for their 2010 tour, coinciding with the release of Empire & Love: Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, and Chris Wood, backed by a band featuring Simon Emmerson, Johnny Kalsi, Ali Friend, Andy Gangadeen, Simon Richmond, Sheema Mukherjee and Barney Morse Brown.