American Epic

In the Roaring 20s, music scouts with cutting-edge recording technology set out across America to capture the unsung voices of everyday folk. This is the Big Bang of modern popular music–the first time America hears itself.

America’s poor–cotton field slaves, mine workers, sharecroppers–find freedom through music, creating gospel, protest songs, and Delta Blues.

Exotic cultures spanning America are captured on record for the first time–inventing new instruments and new cultural identities as disparate voices harmonize in a musical melting pot.

Jack White and T Bone Burnett produce an epic recording session using the only working 1920s recording device in existence in this tribute to the artists celebrated in the documentary.