Americulture
Welcome to our “Americulture” page, where you will find access to features and links focused on music, books, and movies which tell the American story, including its triumphs and struggles. Each of the sections below is an introduction to a blog link, I hope you enjoy the posts, and if you have any feedback, I welcome your email comments in the contact section!
The Americanologist December 2021 Musical Artist: Tyler Childers
Tyler’s gritty voice breaks through the instrumental structure of his compositions, whether it is an acoustic guitar, fiddle, bass, or percussion, bringing stories out of the hollows of appalachian coal country to a new audience of fans. His personal dedication to helping the people of the Appalachian region is evidenced in The Hickman Holler Appalachian Relief Fund, established by Tyler along with his wife, Senora May (a gifted artist in her own right) in 2020 to benefit their community, initially in dealing with a crisis in clean water access in Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia…
If you want to sample some of “cousin” Tyler’s music, go to the Spotify link above and sign in, searching for The Americanologist playlist under Tyler Childers. You don’t have to have a paid account, you can signup for a free Spotify account. Hope you enjoy!
The Americanologist November Book Review: Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America, by Garry Wills
How would Lincoln bind the nation to his grand vision of a nation renewed in the corrected spirit of the Declaration of Independence, finally freed from the limiting moral dilemma that shackled free states to slave states in a compromise to achieve the written, flawed constitution designed in anticipation of a natural solution to the eradication of slavery? Lincoln merged the classic requirements of Greek oration, the Divine Providence of Transcendentalists, and the strategic method of a trial lawyer to lay out his own version of Immanuel Kant’s “Categorical Imperative” for the United States of the future. Hidden in a five-minute speech were the phrases that swept away 80 years of constitutional avoidance of the sin of slavery, repeated statutory compromises which muddled and delayed the conflict until only massive destruction would begin the atonement – requiring the total abolition of slavery as a condition for peace.
The Americanologist book review of Steel Drivin’ Man: John Henry, the Untold Story of an American Legend, by Scott Reynolds Nelson
If you are a fan of American history and myths, the rise of American Bluegrass, Blues, or Rock and Roll, or are interested in the Civil War and Reconstruction, Geology, Dynamite and Nitroglycerine, or perhaps the ongoing struggle for justice in America, read this review and then pick up the book- its a fun read!
✔ out my Spotify playlist “Hammersongs” inspired by the tale of John Henry by clicking the link above and searching for “The Americanologist”
Rhiannon Giddens from North Carolina with band at TFF Rudolstadt 2015. July 3, 2015
Schorle, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
The Americanologist music review of Rhiannon Giddens’ cover of Birmingham Sunday, written by Richard Farina and originally recorded by Joan Baez as a memorial to the girls of the 16th Street Baptist Church.
If you have never heard Rhiannon Giddens sing, play the fiddle or banjo, or just talk about the history of American music and its deep roots in the struggle of Trans-Atlantic peoples as they are transplanted to the “New World”, check out this review and watch the video.
Listen to my artist playlist for Rhiannon Giddens on The Americanologist Spotify playlist!
“What we've got here is failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach. So you get what we had here last week, which is the way he wants it... well, he gets it.” Strother Martin as “Captain” in “Cool Hand Luke” (Warner Bros. 1967)
Rules, rules, nothing but rules.
Paul Newman’s portrayal of Lucas Jackson in the American film classic Cool Hand Luke captures the American archetypal anti-hero: the non-conformist striving to live his life by a set of inner principles that cause him to struggle with the often arbitrary and erratic nature of society’s boundaries. Set down in law, exercised by tyrannical officials, and reinforced by networks of compliant citizens bent by the power of the state to make the individual’s daily life a faustian deal to avoid the only punishment available- isolation from others, or “spending the night in the box.”
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. (1st Amendment to the Constitution of the United States)