The Imagined Village is an English folk musical project founded by Simon Emmerson (of the Afro Celt Sound System) in 2004. 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 on Real World Records. Some of the tracks on the album are modern re-interpretations of traditional folk songs. While primarily the project of Simon Emmerson, the band includes contributions from: The Copper Family, Sheila Chandra, Benjamin Zephaniah, Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, Paul Weller, Transglobal Underground, Tunng, Chris Wood, Billy Bragg, Tiger Moth, The Gloworms and Dhol Foundation. 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 of the year. In 2009, the project moved to a new record label, ECC Records, and a second album, Empire & Love was released in January 2010. In 2012 they released the album, Bending The Dark. Official website: www.theimaginedvillage.com
