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Somebody once asked
a gospel singer if he was an entertainer or a preacher. He answered,
“Yes.”
Michael Lasser’s
talks at museums, universities, and libraries all over the country are,
likewise, a mix of substance and entertainment, serious purpose and
lighthearted irreverence. After all, he says, “I’m talking about
popular songs, not the future of the Republic.”
That doesn’t mean he
isn’t serious about American songs and the men and women who wrote
them. As he explains: |
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“One of the most telling moments happened at the end when you asked if
anyone had questions. One visitor said, ‘Yes. Is there any more!’”
Melinda Georgeson
Director of Education
The Norman Rockwell Museum |
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"I do think
popular music has something valuable to tell us about ourselves if we
stop and listen to it. It opens a revealing and entertaining window on
American attitudes for the last 150 years. For the last 25 of those
years, I've been talking about popular music as social history--about
songs and the America they reflect."
Lasser’s subjects range from the beginnings of the minstrel show in the
1830s to the arrival of rock ‘n’ roll in the 1950s. In the last
years, he’s averaged more than two dozen talks and concerts per year in
a total of 36 states and the District of Columbia – from Maine to
California, Florida to Washington, Mississippi to Minnesota.
In addition to the talks, he also performs with singers Cindy Miller and
Alan Jones. “Nobody in his right mind wants to hear me sing,” he says,
“but Cindy and Alan have a gift for being able to perform the songs of
two centuries with insight and delight, and my job is to give the songs
context in an entertaining way.”
For
more information about talks select the links below:
*Current Calendar for
Scheduled Talks
*Talks and Concerts - a partial
list of available programs
*Select comments from talk organizers
*Where Michael has given his
talks
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Calendar of Scheduled Talks
2010
"A Cup of Coffee, a Sandwich and You": Cooking and
Cuddling in Popular Songs
Saturday, August 21, 2010,
Talk
McLean Museum of History, Bloomington, IL
Walking Alone: The Songs of World War II
Tuesday, October 26, 2010, 7:00
p.m.
Talk and book signing
Montpelier, VT Public Library
Iconic Songs: "God Bless America," "White Christmas," &
World War II
Wednesday, October 27, 2010, Noon
Talk and book signing
Sullivan Museum, Norwich University, Northfield, VT
"Has Anybody Seen My Gal": Popular Music and the
Emergence of Women 1910 - 1925
Sunday, November 7, 2010, 3:00
p.m.
Talk
Louisiana State University Museum of Art, Baton Rouge, LA
2011
"You Can Say an Awful Lot in Seven Reels": Glamour,
Movies & Popular Songs
Sunday, January 23, 2011, 2:00
p.m.
Talk
Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL
Fred Astaire, "A Dancin' Man"
Monday, January 31, 2011,
10:00
a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
Talk and book signing
Sarasota Institute of Lifelong Learning, Sarasota and Venice, FL
"Come on and Hear! Come on and Hear": On the 100th
Anniversary of "Alexander's Ragtime Band"
Wednesday - Thursday, February 16-17, 2011,
various times
Talk and book signing
Des Moines Art Center
"Come on and Hear! Come on and Hear": On the 100th
Anniversary of "Alexander's Ragtime Band"
Tuesday, March 1, 2011, 6:30 p.m.
Talk and book signing
National World War I Museum, Kansas City, MO (Co-sponsored by the
Kansas City Public Library)
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