“When I put on that t-shirt, the only thing I meant to say is I’m a Skynyrd fan…”
Walk in the Parlor (1850s)
Note especially the connections delineated between slavery, land, and knowledge…
Attali: “Noise: The Political Economy of Music” (1977)
“Music is prophecy.”
Kingdom Coming: Union Troops Parade in Richmond
“The demonstrations of the colored people on witnessing the review were at times frantic for joy beyond all description…”
“They follow the American race” ~ Banjo Songs in the Gold Rush
How antebellum minstrel music served a growing continental empire…
I’m Off for California (1850s?)
Here’s a song you’ll recognize, and yet… it’s a side of the Gold Rush story you might not have heard about in school: The melody is Stephen Foster‘s first big hit, “Oh Susannah” (1847), ubiquitous in its time and still common in the “folk song” tradition over a century and a half later. Foster’s original composition features two world-changing technologies…
Hardtacks CD: “Music of the Civil War”
Recorded live with the Sounds of Stow Chorus (17 May 2015)
Gac: “Singing for Freedom” (2007)
“The Hutchinson Family Singers and the Nineteenth Century Culture of Antebellum Reform”
Hutchinson: “Republican Songster” (1860)
Shows how activist performers used music to advance their anti-slavery agenda during a tumultuous political season …
Wake Forest University: “Confederate Broadsides” Collection
A colorful collection of Southern propaganda…
Picayune Butler’s Come to Town (Rice, 1858)
“And when he made his appearance you should have heard the reception he got. I thought the roof would fall off…”: Picayune Butler takes New York & Tokyo by storm.
Star-Spangled Banner (Key, 1814)
What’s the connection between the US National Anthem, militant slave uprisings, and the burning of the White House?
The Hardtacks 