Entering the Archive

Metadata, music history, and discovering what Dust-to-Digital really does.

Music has a way of collapsing distances, whether it’s between generations, locations, languages, or people who might otherwise never cross paths. Music is what brought me here, writing to you.

My name is Emmy Glenn, and I’m excited to be sharing my experience as a mentee with Dust-to-Digital. I am a senior at Georgia State University studying the music industry. I play soccer at GSU and have been playing piano since the age of 6. Like many of you, I’m deeply passionate about music and sharing it with the world.

While looking to gain hands-on experience in the industry, I found myself researching Atlanta based labels. When I stumbled across Dust-to-Digital’s website, I was floored. I quickly realized there was something special happening here. This was a part of the music world I had never encountered; I had to know more.

Lance and April’s work, and their lifelong dedication to it, has been deeply inspiring to me as I begin to explore what a career in the music industry might look like. To kick off my mentorship, I created a detailed analysis of Dust-to-Digital and the work being done here as a way to better understand the organization from the inside. Almost immediately, I saw that what they do is both highly specific and deeply universal, ensuring that music does not go unheard.

What impressed me most in this process was the expansive scope of work that falls under the Dust-to-Digital name. Beyond the Grammy-recognized label, is the foundation that has digitized thousands upon thousands of recordings (try pronouncing “digitization” for the first time). Along with their social media presence and launch of the online radio station, it becomes clear just how many ways there are to engage with the music. No matter where you live, what language you speak, or how old you are, there is something here for you.

Over the past few weeks, much of my time has been spent entering metadata for content that will play on the radio. This has instilled in me DTD’s dedication to accurately and thoughtfully present the artists behind the music. If you’re familiar with DTD, you already know how central this value is. But what may be less visible is the meticulous nature of the work that supports their commitment to amplifying marginalized artists.

While the work demands patience and precision, it has also been a constant source of learning. I feel privileged to be able to engage with music history in such a hands-on way. I have loved learning about Carl Sagan and the launch of the Golden Record aboard the Voyager in 1977, and more meaningfully, to play a small role in helping share the music it carried. While preparing the Anthology of American Folk Music for radio listening, I got a vivid sense of what the American music landscape looked like in the 1920’s and 30’s. I revisited artists I knew, like Charley Patton and Ma Rainey, and was introduced to new artists like Coley Jones and Buell Kazee. I’ve entered metadata for countless audio files from DTD’s instagram posts so that artists, both old and new, from around the world are heard and properly recognized.

From 2004 through 2017, Dust-to-Digital underwrote Country Classics, the radio program hosted by Joe Bussard, on WREK Atlanta 91.1 FM. The program continued airing until shortly before Bussard’s passing in 2022, and these beloved episodes are now being made available again through DTD Radio. After hours spent listening to Country Classics and searching through record discographies to create detailed tracklists, Joe’s voice seems to follow me home. The Dust-to-Digital online radio station is where all of this careful work becomes realized. It is where all the research, metadata, and history turn into a vivid experience for listeners.

With the official release of the radio approaching, the office has been filled with ongoing conversations about voice, programming, content, and technical details. It is an amazing experience to be in the room, witnessing the creative and ever-evolving process of building something new from the ground up. In just a few weeks, this work has sparked a genuine sense of excitement. It makes me wonder what this launch will mean for those who have been supporting DTD for years.

Looking forward, I am eagerly awaiting the end of March, when Lance, April, and I will head to Knoxville for the Big Ears festival. We’ll be interviewing artists, listening to live music, and sharing DTD’s work in person — we’ll also be selling merch, including a brand new print I’m still trying to get my hands on. It promises to be days full of music, learning, connection, and more than a little fan-girling.

When I began this mentorship, I expected to gain experience to add to my resume. Just six weeks in, it’s clear I’ll be walking away with far more. Alongside seeing music history coming to life, making invaluable connections, and having the opportunity to do work that matters, I’m also weaving my work at Dust-to-Digital into my senior project for Georgia State.

Over the remainder of the semester, I’ll be developing a practical, ethical, and standardized process for preparing archival, historical, and field-recorded music for synchronization licensing. Essentially, working to make DTD’s catalog more accessible for use in visual media such as TV and movies. This is a subject that I’m not only deeply interested in, but that Lance and April have identified as an area that can be challenging to streamline at scale. I’ll be working closely behind the scenes with David Evans, beginning with a focus on the album Sorrow Come Pass Me Around.

Working at the Dust-to-Digital office in the Constellations building in downtown Atlanta.

These short few weeks have instilled a renewed sense of excitement about music and my future in the industry at a pivotal moment in my life. But I find myself asking: is this enthusiasm simply my love for the music industry, or is it the effect that Dust-to-Digital has on the people it reaches?

Dust-to-Digital Radio is live and streaming now. The careful, unhurried work Emmy’s describing — the metadata, the research, the tracklists — is what makes it possible. If you’d like to support that work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Alternatively, you can make a tax-free donation to the Dust-to-Digital Foundation, the organization that is underwriting the broadcast. Supporters who give $200 or more will receive a limited-edition print with an inspirational quote by Sun Ra.