Over the ensuing decades, the young nation incorporated the musical repertoires, instruments and expressions of immigrants from various European and African groups. While the restless spirit of musical reinvention continues today, it is a challenge to comprehend the full scope of how American music has evolved.Musicians throughout the nation’s history have been fearless documentarians of American life and experience. As a historian of American music, I believe that Americans can increase their understanding of their national legacy by listening to and learning from the nation’s music. Music can help Americans see their shared story of a national identity forged through an often fraught coexistence with people of different ethnicities and backgrounds.Those seeking to better understand the evolution of American music might seek out and listen to “The Folk Box,” a landmark but overlooked piece of audio history. Compiled in 1964 by Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman, this four-LP, 83-track box set was intended as an accessible survey of the roots and branches of American vernacular music.’The Folk Box’ is a four-LP, 83-track box set of American music. Screen capture by The Conversation.