. ▁The ▁album ▁combined ▁folk ▁music ▁and ▁spoken ▁word , ▁narr ated ▁by ▁Sand ers . ▁He ▁was ▁the ▁mayor ▁of ▁Bur ling ton , ▁Verm ont , ▁at ▁the ▁time ▁of ▁the ▁album ' s ▁release . ▁The ▁album ▁was ▁rem aster ed ▁and ▁r ere leased ▁in ▁ 2 0 1 4 ▁and ▁gained ▁wide ▁expos ure ▁during ▁Sand ers ' ▁ 2 0 1 6 ▁president ial ▁campaign . ▁ ▁Background ▁In ▁ 1 9 8 7 , ▁Bur ling ton - based ▁music ▁producer ▁Tod d ▁Lock wood ▁was ▁si pping ▁coffee ▁at ▁Le un ig ' s ▁B istro ▁when ▁he ▁came ▁up ▁with ▁the ▁idea ▁to ▁approach ▁the ▁city ' s ▁mayor , ▁Bern ie ▁Sand ers , ▁to ▁record ▁a ▁musical ▁project ▁at ▁his ▁studio , ▁White ▁Crow ▁Audio . ▁Lock wood ▁wrote ▁a ▁letter ▁to ▁Mayor ▁Sand ers ▁and ▁a ▁meeting ▁was ▁arranged ▁at ▁the ▁mayor ' s ▁office . ▁Lock wood ▁originally ▁imag ined ▁the ▁album ▁as ▁an ▁audio ▁portrait ▁of ▁Bern ie ▁Sand ers , ▁but ▁Sand ers ▁saw ▁it ▁as ▁an ▁opportunity ▁to ▁tell ▁a ▁much ▁larger ▁story . ▁ ▁Sand ers ▁made ▁a ▁list ▁of ▁ten ▁songs ▁he ▁would ▁be ▁willing ▁to ▁record , ▁five ▁of ▁which ▁made ▁the ▁cut ▁for ▁the ▁album . ▁ ▁Once ▁word ▁of ▁the ▁project ▁spread ▁among ▁the ▁Verm ont ▁music ▁community , ▁mus icians ▁began ▁l ining ▁up ▁to ▁be ▁part ▁of ▁it . ▁The ▁studio ▁sessions ▁were ▁rem in is cent ▁of ▁the ▁Michael