Since their earliest recordings and performances, the South African-based Grammy Award-winning a cappella group Ladysmith Black Mambazo as individuals and as a group have maintained a respect and a reverence for their past. Indeed, the centuries-old story of their homeland sometimes joyous, sometimes troubled, but always rich and exhilarating has been at the very foundation of this vocal group since its very beginning. And yet, for all the decades that have come and gone, these sounds are still very much alive. Ladysmith Black Mambazo shares them with the world in their new recording, Songs From A Zulu Farm. Taking the many songs and stories of their youth and adding new lyrics, founder and frontman Joseph Shabalala and the other eight members of the group recreate the idyllic world in which they once lived and offers a glimpse of it to fans and audiences around the globe. To say this is their most personal work to date would be an understatement. Included among the sixteen tracks on Songs From A Zulu Farm is Old McDonald...Zulu Style, a South African rendition of the well known children s song, Old McDonald Had a Farm. This original classic is reworked in ways never before imagined as it is piped through the language and culture of the Zulu people. Less familiar to Western audiences but no less engaging are the various traditional tunes taken directly from the Zulu culture. Some are cautionary tales: Imithi Gobakahle ( Children Come Home ) calls the children inside when the skies grow dark and a rainstorm threatens, while Ekhaya ( Don t Leave Home too Soon ) encourages teenagers to stay with their families until they are truly ready to live on their own. Other songs are about the various mischievous and troublesome animals so prevalent in Zulu country: Ntulube ( Away, You River Snakes ), is an attempt to chase snakes and frogs out of the river to make the water better for swimming, while Uthekwane ( The Prettiest Bird? ) is an ode to a vain bird who boasts of her beauty to the other animals. While Songs From A Zulu Farm may originate from the culture of South Africa, they speak to certain joys of childhood that are universal. Whether you are in Ladysmith, Virginia, or Ladysmith, South Africa, there are children being told or being sung stories that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives. These are the same stories and songs that they too will share with their children. We hope that these songs sung to children in South Africa can be shared with and enjoyed by families in other places in the world.