Edom ( /ˈiː.dʌm/; Hebrew: אֱדוֹם, Modern Edom Tiberian ʼĔḏôm ; "red"; Assyrian: Udumi; Syriac: ܐܕܘܡ) or Idumea (Greek: Ἰδουμαία, Idoumaía; Latin: Idūmaea) was a Semitic inhabited historical region of the Southern Levant located south of Judea and the Dead Sea. It is mentioned in biblical records as a 1st millennium BC Iron Age kingdom of Edom, and in classical antiquity the cognate name Idumea was used to refer to a smaller area in the same region. The name Edom means "red" in Hebrew, and was given to Esau once he ate the "red pottage". (Genesis 25:30 KJV)

The Bible and The Torah describe the Edomites as descendants of Esau the eldest son of the Jewish patriarch Isaac, although no written records of the time have been discovered that support this claim.

The Edomites may have been connected with the Shasu and Shutu, nomadic raiders mentioned in Egyptian sources. Indeed, a letter from an Egyptian scribe at a border fortress in the Wadi Tumilat during the reign of Merneptah reports movement of nomadic "shasu-tribes of Edom" to watering holes in Egyptian territory. The earliest Iron Age settlements—possibly copper mining camps—date to the 9th century BCE. Settlement intensified by the late 8th century BC and the main sites so far excavated have been dated between the 8th and 6th centuries BC. The last unambiguous reference to Edom is an Assyrian inscription of 667 BC; it has thus been unclear when, how and why Edom ceased to exist as a state, although many scholars point to scriptural references in the Bible, specifically the historical book of Obadiah, to explain this phenomenon.

Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond (/ˈɑːmənd/; born 9 July 1957, Southport) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/New Wave duo Soft Cell. He has sold over 30 million records worldwide.

Almond was born in 1957 in Southport (then Lancashire, now part of Merseyside), the son of Sandra Mary Dieson and Peter John Sinclair Almond, a Second Lieutenant in the King's Liverpool Regiment. He was brought up at his grandparents' house in Birkdale with his younger sister, Julia, and as a child suffered from bronchitis and asthma. When he was four, they left their grandparents' house and moved to Starbeck on the edge of Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Two years later they returned to Southport, and then moved to Horsforth (near Leeds).^{[citation needed]}

At age 11 he attended Aireborough Grammar School near Leeds. Almond found solace in music, listening to British radio pioneer John Peel. The first album he purchased was the soundtrack of the stage musical Hair and the first single "Green Manalishi" by Fleetwood Mac. He later became a great fan of Marc Bolan and David Bowie and got a part time job as a stable boy to fund his musical tastes.^{[citation needed]}

Eliza Carthy (born 23 August 1975) is an English folk musician known for both singing and playing fiddle. She is the daughter of English folk musicians singer/guitarist Martin Carthy and singer Norma Waterson.

Carthy was born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. At the age of thirteen Carthy formed the Waterdaughters with her mother, aunt (Lal Waterson) and cousin Maria Knight. She has subsequently worked with Nancy Kerr, with her parents as Waterson:Carthy, and as part of the "supergroup" Blue Murder, in addition to her own solo work. She went to school at Fyling Hall School in North Yorkshire.

Eliza Carthy led the vocals as a member of Blue Murder on the song "I Bid You Goodnight" found on the CD tribute to the music of Joseph Spence & the Pinder family called Out On the Rolling Sea (1994) (Green Linnet). Along with Eliza are Lal Waterson, Norma Waterson, Jim Boyes, Martin Carthy, Barry Coope, Lester Simpson and Mike Waterson.

She has twice been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize for UK album of the year: in 1998 for Red Rice, and again in 2003 for Anglicana. Eliza was a guest on the album Mermaid Avenue by Billy Bragg and Wilco. Eliza and Billy also recorded together on the song "My Father's Mansions" which appeared on the Pete Seeger tribute album called Where Have All The flowers Gone (1998).

Tim Eriksen is an American musician, musicologist, and professor. He is the leader of the band Cordelia's Dad, a solo artist, and was a performer and consultant for the award-winning soundtrack of the film Cold Mountain.

Cordelia's Dad combines old-time music and punk rock influences to create a unique sound. The Village Voice describes the band as "semi-reformed punks turned shape-note singers...recently gone entirely acoustic, but buzzing with metaphorical electricity". The band has released nine full length albums, played festivals such as The Newport Folk Festival, and toured with notable bands Nirvana, Uncle Tupelo, and Weezer.

Eriksen is a Ph.D. candidate in ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University, having received an M.A. in the same discipline from Wesleyan in 1993, and has served as a visiting music professor at Dartmouth College, Amherst College, Hampshire College and the University of Minnesota. He has also taught in Poland and The Czech Republic. Additionally, Eriksen is a collector of variations of folk songs, and has conducted extensive research on traditional Yugoslavian music. Eriksen shared his extensive knowledge of folk music while a consultant for the soundtrack of the film Cold Mountain. Eriksen is currently teaching a class on the history of The Sacred Harp at Smith College.

Sufjan Stevens ( /ˈsuːfjɑːn/ SOOF-yahn; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter and musician born in Detroit, Michigan. Stevens first began releasing his music on Asthmatic Kitty, a label co-founded with his stepfather, beginning with the 1999 release, A Sun Came. He is best known for his 2005 album, Illinois, which hit number one in the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart, and for the song "Chicago".

Stevens has released albums of varying styles, from the electronica of Enjoy Your Rabbit and the lo-fi folk of Seven Swans to the symphonic instrumentation of Illinois and Christmas-themed Songs for Christmas. Stevens makes use of a variety of instruments, often playing many of them himself on the same recording, and writes music in various time signatures. Though he has repeatedly stated an intent to separate his beliefs from his music, Stevens also freely draws from the Bible and other spiritual traditions, incorporating mystical elements into his music often.

Stevens was born in Detroit and lived there until the age of nine, when his family moved to Petoskey, Michigan. In Petoskey he attended the Petoskey High School, the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy and graduated from Harbor Light Christian School. He went on to attend Hope College in Holland, Michigan and earned a Master of Fine Arts from The New School in New York City.