This Revolution Will Be Amplified
From Lil Nas X to Valerie June to Darius Rucker, Black musicians are staking their claim in country music. Francesca T. Royster explains.
Topsy-Turvy: Children in Adult Roles
The number of children acting like adults on stage reflects how conflicted nineteenth-century Anglo-Americans were about the definition of childhood.
Happy Birthday, Well-Tempered Clavier
Bach’s most influential pedagogical work turns 300 this year. But what’s so “well-tempered” about this clavier, and what’s a “clavier,” anyway?
Loretta Lynn: More than a Great Songwriter
A spokeswoman for white, rural, working-class women, Loretta Lynn used music to articulate the fears, dreams, and anger of women living in a patriarchal society.
Temperance Melodrama on the Nineteenth-Century Stage
Produced by the master entertainer P. T. Barnum, a melodrama about the dangers of alcohol was the first show to run for a hundred performances in New York City.
Musical Myth-Busting: Teaching Music History with JSTOR Daily
Harnessing the power of quirk to engage students and inspire research in an online learning environment.
How Wattstax Ushered in a New Era of Black Art
Organized in the aftermath of the 1965 Watts uprising, the music festival showed that something powerful was happening in the Black community.
The Reality Behind Kitchen Sink Realism
The gritty dramas of the 1950s and 1960s revealed the bitterness and disillusionment of Britain's working class youth.
Start a Riot (and a Zine), Grrrl
With roots in the small press and fanzine communities, the girl zine movement relied on pen, paper, and copy machines to fight structural oppression.
Liberation on the Dance Floor
Motown’s foray into gay liberation music may have been short-lived, but it made an outsized impact on queer culture.