Program Bureau for New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music

For each of our MoMS projects, we develop a Program Bureau, or series of lecture/discussion programs related to local history available to each site free of charge. Exhibition hosts can bring any or all of the fascinating scholars on our roster to their communities for provocative, informative events.

For New Harmonies, we also developed a teacher in-service program conducted by Dr. James Akenson of Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville. In this day-long program, Akenson provides local teachers with units of study that incorporate the exhibit themes across a range of subjects, each lesson meeting the state curriculum guidelines.

The Smith County Heritage Museum in Carthage, hosted Akenson on May 29, 2008. Of the twenty-five teachers from Smith and Putnam Counties, many approached the museum staff as early as halfway through the workshop in order to schedule a tour of the exhibition for their students. The teachers also commented on the wealth of material Akenson provided, which will enable them to develop pre- or post visit study units, and, with a bit of technology, use the audio samples and power point programs he makes available to the teachers for their own classroom lessons.

"The workshop helped our local teachers get a grip on the New Harmonies exhibit and our museum generally," says Trina Hesson, curator of the Smith County Heritage Museum. The museum will host the exhibit September 27 - November 9, 2008.

This program is a substantive way of getting the schools involved in their local museum programming — and of introducing innovative study to the classroom. Next up, Hardeman County APTA will host Akenson at The Pillars Historic Site in Bolivar, later this month, for which nearly fifty teachers have signed up.

Each of the following five programs is available to host organizations at no cost. Presentations are free and open to the general public.

The Roots of Traditional Music of Tennessee
Presenter: Brent Cantrell, Executive Director, Jubilee Community Arts, Knoxville

This presentation will examine the development of traditional and popular music found today in Tennessee. Over the last few centuries the American South has hosted the emergence of several genre of music derived from the great traditions of Africa and Western Europe. Though much of the history of this music is lost to us, we do have about a hundred years of commercial recordings as well as a wealth of field recordings from twentieth century Africa and Europe. We will use some of these old recordings to trace developments in our musical traditions. This general discussion will attempt to cover a broad range of forms including sacred and secular singing, instrumental music, dance music, and music intended for special audiences. Some of the recordings presented will contain profanity and graphic descriptions of physical violence. This presentation may not be appropriate for children or for those with refined sensibilities.

New Harmonies Out of Old Dissonances: Popular Music and Race Relations in the South, 1945-1970
Presenter: Michael Bertrand, Professor of History, Tennessee State University

"New Harmonies out of Old Dissonances: Popular Music and Race Relations in the South, 1945-1970" will examine the relationship between the rise of rhythm and blues, rockabilly, rock 'n' roll, and soul and changing patterns of race relations during the post-World War II era. Held at various locations throughout Tennessee, the program will focus specifically on the cultural and social evolution of music, with particular attention given to its impact in the racial realm. Although professional scholars have rarely approached the issue, many within the larger population often have connected the rising popularity of such musical genres in Dixie with the crumbling foundations of jim/jane crow segregation. This program will explore the many questions that must be asked in order to support such a premise. The focus will remain on the music, with much emphasis placed on historical antecedents, such as the blues, jazz, gospel, and country music. But there also will be a concerted attempt to place the musical genres within a social, economic, and political context of a South undergoing tremendous change. For instance, not only did rhythm and blues and rock 'n' roll evolve from stylistic strains of earlier musical forms, they also represented a response to the dynamic living conditions of the people who produced and consumed the music. How did those conditions affect the music? Especially what impact did the music have on race relations? The music arose at the time of the civil rights movement. Was there a connection or was it just a coincidence? Fortunately, Tennessee served as a musical incubator of these various genres. It also served as a site of racial struggle and change. Ultimately, "New Harmonies out of Old Dissonances" provides the opportunity to study the black freedom struggle from a perspective that takes seriously the music that emerged alongside it. It should prove both to be an entertaining and educational experience.

The Icon of the "Hillbilly" in Country Music
Presenter: Anthony Harkins, Asst. Professor of History, Western Kentucky University

As American roots music of all forms was "discovered" and commercialized in the early 20th century, it was both celebrated as the genuine voice of "the people" and derided as a reflection of a backwards-looking and ignorant rustic populace. Nowhere was this duality more evident than in the public construction of commercially recorded rural white music, commonly labeled (although often disparagingly or reluctantly) "hillbilly music." Musicians and audiences of the 1920s and 1930s held an ambivalent view of the term and the image associated with it, one in which awareness of derision mixed with personal and cultural pride and a nostalgic sense of a mythic mountaineer. In the years surrounding World War II, however, the growing power of a derisive cartoonish hillbilly stereotype led newly branded "country music" to repudiate the label and identity. Yet in the past two decades, the term has recently made a comeback as the very signifier of an authenticity uncorrupted by standardizing commercial forces. This program, led by Dr. Anthony Harkins, Professor of History at Western Kentucky University and the author of Hillbilly: A Cultural History of an American Icon, will explore this often vexed relationship between roots music and the hillbilly identity.

Tune In, Tennessee!
Presenter: Kristine McCusker, Professor of History, Middle Tennessee State University

Like many in the United States, Tennesseans tuned into new radio programs in the 1920s and 1930s (and later) and delighted in the actors and musicians who performed comedy, drama and fine music from far away. Unlike other Americans, however, Tennesseans contributed in unique and original ways to radio via barn dance programs like Nashville's Grand Ole Opry and Knoxville's Mid-Day Merry-Go-Round and via a new mix of blues and country music called rock and roll. My talk then will focus on these two distinct streams: national influence and local reaction. How did Tennesseans listen to the radio? How did they respond to what they heard? How, in turn, did their particular brand of music entice a nation and how did that brand evolve over time? Did men and women enjoy radio when listening in or act in different ways performing on the air?

As much as possible, the focus will be on audience members; to find the ways that they remember national radio trends and regional mores intersecting as audience members integrated this new mass media into their lives.

New Harmonies Teacher Training Workshop
Presenter: James Akenson, Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, Tennessee Tech

This workshop will focus upon appropriate strategies and materials for classroom teachers to:

  1. Use the New Harmonies exhibition effectively in on site visits by students,
  2. Use New Harmonies concepts as the basis for age and grade appropriate pre and post visits, and
  3. Suggest additional linkages of roots musical forms into the social studies, language arts, and other subject matter areas. An emphasis will be placed upon materials and teaching strategies which can be easily implemented by the classroom teacher.
Reference will not only be made to common textbook content but to state and national standards.

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