Upcoming in 2026
(Off the air, I am currently working on an essay about John Hammond's integrationist union advocacy and activism during the Swing Era in 1930s New York City.)
Tuesday October 6, 2026
WUMB Radio Member Event (details coming)
"The Music Nobody Knows": The Roots of the Folk Revival in 1930s New York
“The Music That Nobody Knows” was the title to the program notes for the landmark From Spirituals to Swing concert at Carnegie Hall in late 1938. Of course, the title’s suggestion that the music was unknown was misleading. Folk music was not unknown by the communities who made and engaged with it, but what did it mean when “serious” audiences began to recognize vernacular forms of American music as “valid”?
In this ~90-minute webinar, we’ll explore the webs of connection among the loose collective of Depression-era critics, impresarios, and musicians in the cultural hive of New York City who were at the forefront of professionalizing folk music, ushering it into the popular culture mainstream at a time when the meaning of what it meant to be an American was being challenged and re-evaluated. These intellectuals heralded blues, jazz, gospel, spirituals, ballads, and work songs as undervalued expressions of uniquely American, poor and working-class culture, even as many of them were socially positioned outside of the communities that produced the music. Nevertheless, through the press, the studio, and the concert stage, they collectively integrated spaces of music production, improved the wages of the working musicians, and jolted the stagnated post-Depression phonograph industry.
We’ll share and contextualize recordings from the From Spirituals to Swing concert, as well as early records by The Almanac Singers (Pete Seeger, et al), Teddy Wilson, Josh White, and Billie Holiday – foundational recordings and moments in time that informed the midcentury folk boom and continue to inspire today.
(Off the air, I am currently working on an essay about John Hammond's integrationist union advocacy and activism during the Swing Era in 1930s New York City.)
Tuesday October 6, 2026
WUMB Radio Member Event (details coming)
"The Music Nobody Knows": The Roots of the Folk Revival in 1930s New York
“The Music That Nobody Knows” was the title to the program notes for the landmark From Spirituals to Swing concert at Carnegie Hall in late 1938. Of course, the title’s suggestion that the music was unknown was misleading. Folk music was not unknown by the communities who made and engaged with it, but what did it mean when “serious” audiences began to recognize vernacular forms of American music as “valid”?
In this ~90-minute webinar, we’ll explore the webs of connection among the loose collective of Depression-era critics, impresarios, and musicians in the cultural hive of New York City who were at the forefront of professionalizing folk music, ushering it into the popular culture mainstream at a time when the meaning of what it meant to be an American was being challenged and re-evaluated. These intellectuals heralded blues, jazz, gospel, spirituals, ballads, and work songs as undervalued expressions of uniquely American, poor and working-class culture, even as many of them were socially positioned outside of the communities that produced the music. Nevertheless, through the press, the studio, and the concert stage, they collectively integrated spaces of music production, improved the wages of the working musicians, and jolted the stagnated post-Depression phonograph industry.
We’ll share and contextualize recordings from the From Spirituals to Swing concert, as well as early records by The Almanac Singers (Pete Seeger, et al), Teddy Wilson, Josh White, and Billie Holiday – foundational recordings and moments in time that informed the midcentury folk boom and continue to inspire today.
Interested in hosting an event or working with me? Use the contact form to get in touch.