"Founded in 1966 by Anne Romaine and Bernice Johnson Reagon, the Southern Folk Cultural Revival Project (SFCRP), based in Nashville, Tenn., worked to present traditional musicians from black and white cultures in performance together at a time when this was considered controversial. The SFCRP continued presenting musical performances throughout the South until the late 1980s, keeping close ties with the civil rights movement." (Abstract description from UNC-Chapel Hill, Southern Folk Cultural Revival Project Collection (#20004).
The Southern Festival of Song, Vanderbilt University, held in Neely Auditorium, April 22, 1966, was one of the earliest concerts in the SFCRP Southern College series. The eclectic singer/songwriter/artist/performer entourage presented traditional ballads, songs of slavery, songs of the Southern Church, Negro spirituals, work songs, blues, blue grass, gospel, topical and contemporary music.
The Vanderbilt event featured Bernice Reagon, SFCRP co-founder and member of the Freedom Singers; Rev. Pearlie Brown, street singer and guitarist; Mable Hillary, blues singer and member of the Georgia Sea Island Singers; Almeda Riddle, collector and singer of Traditional Ballads; Len Chandler, folksinger, songwriter and civil rights troubadour; and DeFord Bailey, blues and country "harmonica wizard" and banjo player and Grand Ole Opry star. (With apology, two performers are presently unidentified).