Mississippi Records presents A People's History of Music

We're very pleased to welcome back Eric Isaacson, founder of Mississippi Records, for an engaging illustrated talk charting a moving and vital people's history of underground musical resistance. Part of Sound & Vision Making wide, bold swings while always coming back to intricate and strange details, this show covers music from Ethiopia, Slovenia, Kenya, the USA and beyond, while drawing on Eric's colourfully described, personal experiences of the fascist creep. It's a whirlwind presentation of archival film, sound clips and images that avoids political grandstanding, instead emphasizing vital anti-authoritarian stories of resistance through samizdat music distribution. The Cramps, Jimmie Rodgers (The Yodeling Brakeman), Kipsigis Tribal Musicians, Sting, Scientologists, Ethiopian pop stars, Portland punks, Russian bootleggers, Spotify, Octopus, The Beatles, The Germs, African cowboys and Techno Fascists are some of the characters who will be discussed. Eric is known for his humbly comical, singular style and for his ability to revitalize audiences through digging up buried treasures from the global music underground. He has an intuitive and captivating way of finding the kinks, idiosyncrasies and soulful stories in the histories of under-acknowledged punk, gospel, soul, blues and roots based music from around the world. Eric has previously constructed and internationally toured three other mind-altering presentations (including at Hyde Park Picture House), but never one as timely as this — a must-experience sampling of audio and visual folk art! Mississippi Records Details Duration: 1hr 40mins Director: Eric Isaacson Featuring: Eric Isaacson Year: 2026 Country of origin: US Language: English Strobe lighting: Guidance unavailable Content guidance: Content guidance unavailable Part of Sound & Vision — Film and music collide in this new ongoing season – presented by two of Leeds' longest-running cultural institutions.