The Music Box will be back with a new season in the fall. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this special about shape note singing — one of the oldest musical traditions in this country. It’s a practice that began in colonial America, and after centuries of ups and downs in popularity, today it’s finding an expanded and surprisingly diverse new following… and some of its singers believe the music can teach democracy a thing or two.

Join Louisville Public Media’s Laura Atkinson and Justin Hicks as they trace this tradition, from its origins 200 years ago to the largest Sacred Harp singing in living memory. “Shapes of America” is an hour-long special from Louisville Public Media and the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom.