E PLURIBUS MUSICUM: A HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC

Wednesday Wisdom: Potluck & Sing-Along

Come join us Wednesday for a one-hour history of the United States through the melting pot of its music. I figure that everyone will actually be busy on the 4th of July, so having our celebration on Wednesday the 2nd makes a lot of sense. 

Since it is the first Wednesday of the month, there will be a potluck starting at 5:45. We are going to have a sing-along starting at 6:45, with the concert starting at 7:00. There will be lots of singing along during the concert, so come prepared to have a good time.

The name of the concert means “from many, music,” and is of course a play on “E Pluribus Unum”, the United States motto. A lot of people don’t know that “E Pluribus Unum” (“from many, one”) is the original motto of the United States. “In God We Trust” was added to coins in 1864, but did not become a national motto until the 1950’s, the same time “under God” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance. These were ostensibly to combat “godless Communism”, but I find both of them an offensive commingling of church and state. The concert goes back to that original definition of the United States as a melting pot: a coming together of different peoples, the free exchange of ideas, in this case musical ideas. The music that is uniquely “American” has always been a mixture of multiple styles that came before, so it makes an excellent analogue to this.

Kimberly and I have been toying around with the idea of putting together a one-hour “cruise ship” format show around this idea. You can think of this as the first draft of such a show. We are pleased to be joined by the “Fire Pit Players”: Karyn Allen and Rick Dale, Hans Smith and Darrolyn Fennelly, Patty Coquillard, with Jimmy Vann on the piano. This gives us a lot more leeway to add some extra voices and instruments and styles and harmonies. We hope to see you there!