28 Jun 2008    The Troubadour Tradition The thigh bone of the extinct cave bear, a harp of ninth century Wales, itinerant noblemen singing in twelfth century France and performers entertaining an audience on Chincoteague Island. The connection among all these obscure dots in history defines a profound human tradition that survives in spite of the modern ambush of technology and weapons of mass marketing.   14 Jun 2008    History of the Broadway Musical Ask Americans to name their favorite song from a Broadway musical and it’s a good bet that many will recall George M. Cohan’s Give My Regards to Broadway. Cohan wrote the song for his first Broadway musical, the 1904 production of Little Johnny Jones.  The show had an initial run of fifty-two performances.  It was revived in 1905 and again in 1907.  All together Give My Regards to Broadway was heard about four hundred times on a Broadway stage.  Yet this century-old song is deeply entrenched in American culture.  READ ON..........     15 May 2008    America's Military Bands While their role has changed over the centuries from communications to entertainment, U.S. military bands have helped our Nation celebrate, thank its warriors, mourn its losses, and so entwined their function in American culture that, without them, there might be no jazz or rock-and-roll.  READ ON.......   14 Oct 2007    Bluegrass and Celtic Music Bluegrass music is the result of a marvelous collision between Celtic music and African-American music.  The story begins in 1618 with the arrival of the first fiddler in the New World.  The first Africans arrived as slaves during the 1640s.  The musical mix of African and European sensibilities created a steady progression of music styles that are collectively called "American music."  Blues, ragtime, cakewalk, gospel, jazz, rock-n-roll, and bluegrass are the musical offspring of the interactions between the artistic descendants of that 1618 fiddler and those first, kidnapped Africans.  READ ON.......   21 Sep 2007    Barbershop Singing The quintessential American musical form of Barbershop Singing has its roots in the African-American community of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  The first published use of the term appear on the title page of the 1910 song Play That Barbershop Chord.  The major Barbershop societies have more than eighty thousand members.  READ ON......