In this two-hour presentation, Walter Schmidt, local singer/songwriter and music teacher, will explore the history of the American Revolution through a unique lens: the presentation and discussion of several topical songs published and sung in the colonies and Great Britain between 1763 and 1783. Listening to them now can provide a unique insight into that seminal period of American history.

Based on Oscar Brand’s 1972 collection Songs of ’76: A Folksinger’s History of the Revolution, this class will explore the music that captured the spirit and struggles of the American Revolution. Participants will examine songs from three distinct stages of the era—beginning with the initial period of growing tension between the colonies and Great Britain from 1763 to 1764, continuing through the war years that began in 1765, and concluding with the Treaty of Paris in 1783 and its aftermath. Through these songs, the class will trace how music reflected and influenced the evolving emotions, politics, and hopes of a nation on the brink of independence.

Walter Schmidt, singer/songwriter & music teacher, will introduce two or three songs from each period by providing a brief historical background and then singing each song, accompanied by guitar or banjo, and providing an opportunity for brief discussion after each song.