On Tuesday, October 2, The Hardtacks will perform songs from the Civil War era as part of the Wright Museum’s 2018 Lecture Series, sponsored by Ron Goodgame and Donna Canney.
Entitled “Rally ‘Round the Flag: Songs from the Civil War,” the event will provide a musical look at the politics, personalities, and perspectives that remade a nation in the Civil War era.
According to Mike Culver, museum executive director, the folksongs, ballads, and bawdy tunes from that era helped create a bond between the men fighting the war and the greater efforts that won the war between the states.
“This kind of music, and the participatory elements of performance were crucial cultural practices that made for unity and the sense that the individual was tied to the nation at war,” he said.
At the “lecture,” audience members will be encouraged to sing along in an engaging, exploratory forum as The Hardtacks bring new life to lyrics, documents, and visual images from primary sources. Through camp songs, parlor music, hymns, battlefield rallying cries, and fiddle tunes, they examine the folk-song as a means to enact living history, share perspectives and influence public perceptions of events.
“The Hardtacks are great, because they actively reinterpret and conserve culture in rapid times of change,” added Culver.
“Rally ‘Round the Flag: Songs from the Civil War” takes place form 7 to 8 p.m. The Wright Museum’s Lecture Series takes place every Tuesday through the end of the season, which concludes Oct. 31.
Admission is $3 for members and $8 for non-members. Seating is limited, and reservations can be made by calling 603-569-1212.
Wright Museum is open daily through Oct. 31 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and noon to 4 p.m. on Sundays.
