Osher
Lifelong Learning Institute
Florida International
University
Biscayne Bay Campus
3000 NE 151 ST, North
Miami, FL 33181
Academic One Building, Room 212
Register by:
e-mail OLLI@fiu.edu
Phone 305-919-5910
Fax 305-919-5484
The American Music Revival
a six week series of lectures with
Rod MacDonald
2012 FAU Distinguished Faculty Member (Lifelong Learning Program)
Thursdays noon-2:30 pm September 24, October 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
Course description:
Building on the foundation of American folksong, a new generation of
musical artists turned the stories of their lives into enduring songs,
blending roots and myth with passion, humor, commitment to a progressive
society, and telling our society’s history in song. This course will
examine the work, biographies and lasting importance of these musical
artists, and attempt to sort myth from reality using CDs, live videos
and excerpts from feature films, live performances and a few surprises.
Lecture 1: The Beginning: The Carter Family, Theo Bikel
Lecture 2
: The Front Lines: Phil
Ochs, Donovan
Lecture 3: Storytellers: Harry Chapin, Jim Croce, Don McLean
Lecture 4: Outside
The Box: The
Chieftains, Johnny Cash
Lecture 5: Carry It On:
Bruce Springsteen, The Seeger Sessions
Lecture 6: Traditional
Music In Film: T Bone Burnette, Alison Krause
Rod MacDonald is a professional singer/songwriter, a leading voice in
the "new folk" 1980s in Greenwich Village, NY club and, since 1995, in
Florida. He has 21 songs in the Smithsonian Folkways collection and 11
solo cds, including "Later That Night" in 2014, and "Big
Tent" with Big Brass Bed. He regularly appears in festivals, clubs and
concert venues, locally and throughout North America and Europe, and was
named "Best Local Acoustic Performer" by New Times, one of "Ten
magnificent musicians of Palm Beach County" by the Palm Beach Post, and
one of the New Times' "10 Greatest South Florida Folksingers Of All
Time." This is his third course for FIU/Osh.