4/27/12

'Woodystock,' With Students' Original Protest Music, At SLU May 3

CANTON - Students in the St. Lawrence University First-Year Seminar course titled "The Songs Get Hotter: Exploring Protest Music" will present Woodystock 2012, a benefit concert featuring original protest music, at the Java Barn on Thursday, May 3, at 9:30 p.m. Voluntary donations will be accepted to benefit Canton Central School.

The course, taught by Professor and Chair of Global Studies John Collins, takes an analytical and performative approach to protest music. Through their own research, students explore what motivates musicians to create protest music and how this music contributes to social movements and social change. In addition, they engage in semester-long group projects of composing, arranging and performing their own protest music. The courses employs a "do it yourself" philosophy: no previous musical experience is required.

Student bands performing at the concert are Bye Bye Piper; A Dash of Torque; Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice; and EMERGENCY Drum Lesson. The event also features Bee Children, a faculty/staff acoustic ensemble, with a special appearance by St. Lawrence Class of 2004 graduate Jen Crowell. Crowell, a singer-songwriter based in Burlington, Vermont, has served as an informal mentor for students in the course.

Woodystock 2012 is named in honor of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Woody Guthrie, the great American protest singer whose work is a primary inspiration for the course. The concert will conclude with the collective singing of Guthrie's most famous song, "This Land Is Your Land," including verses that have often been left out of popular versions of the song.

For more information, visit the Facebook page for the event.