VA – Troubadours: Folk and the Roots of American Music, Part 1 (2014)

While some observers often see Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan, Carole King, Joni Mitchell and James Taylor as the founders of America's contemporary singer-songwriter movement, the tradition actually dates back to the mid-19th century. The Hutchison Family of Milford, New Hampshire toured the United States singing religious and secular songs supporting numerous populist causes. In the years before World War I, Joe Hill and Ralph Chaplin refashioned traditional songs and hymns into biting anthems for the Industrial Workers of the World.