Sam Amidon, Carolina Chocolate Drops, and Chris Thile & Michael Daves have all contributed songs to Divided & United: The Songs of the Civil War, a new collection of Civil War–era tunes recorded by contemporary artists, to be released on ATO Records on November 5. The album, which is streaming in full via Garden and Gun in advance of the release, features Amidon on "Wildwood Flower," the Chocolate Drops on "Day of Liberty," and Thile and Daves on "Richmond Is a Hard Road to Travel," which Thile has performed on his current solo tour. It also includes performances from Loretta Lynn, Ricky Skaggs, Ralph Stanley, Dolly Parton, Steve Earle, and others, including those familiar to readers of the Nonesuch Journal, like producer/performers T Bone Burnett and Joe Henry as well as Thile's Punch Brothers band mate Noam Pikelny.

"There is such a wealth of musical material from that time," the album's producer, Randall Poster, tells the Wall Street Journal. "And it all springs from such a tumultuous variety of emotions. You have families torn apart, mothers losing their children, brother versus brother conflicts, people rallying behind one side or the other. All that is expressed in the music."

It was 23 years ago this November that Nonesuch Records released the soundtrack to the acclaimed Ken Burns PBS documentary The Civil War. The soundtrack, which features traditional American music from the era, including the haunting theme music to the series, “Ashokan Farewell," went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album and is available in the Nonesuch Store.