STOCKTON — Stockton Heritage Museum will host a presentation by Bucky Halker — a songwriter, performer, and historian with 15 albums to his credit, including Wisconsin 2-13-63, a two-CD project of original songs, Anywhere But Utah: Songs of Joe Hill (2015), a musical tribute to martyred labor songwriter Joe Hill (1879-1915), and The Ghost of Woody Guthrie (2012), an original music tribute to the legendary folksinger.
Halker has been described as “a missionary, spreading the words and redefining folk music in new and vital and exciting ways” by the Chicago Tribune.
The presentation, “This Land is Your Land; The Folksongs of Woody Guthrie,” will take place on Sunday, August 8 at the Stockton Heritage Museum, 107 West Front Street, Stockton, at 2:30 p.m.
Woody Guthrie (1912-1967) is America’s most legendary folksong writer. His music continues to uplift and excite musicians and audiences around the world. Inspired by Guthrie’s most famous song, This Land Is Your Land features the performance (guitar and vocal) of several Guthrie songs, as well as commentary on the time period and each song. The program also places Guthrie and his music in a larger historical context while also offering details on his life.
Halker, a Ph.D. in American History, has lectured and published extensively on music in America and has toured Europe regularly since 1990. He is the author of For Democracy, Workers, and God: Labor Song-Poems and Labor Pro-test, 1865-1895 (University of Illinois Press) and the scholar-producer for the five-volume Folksongs of Illinois CD series. Bucky received the prestigious Archie Green Fellowship from the Library of Congress — American Folklife Center in 2012 and served as guest professor at Carl von Ossietzky University in Germany in 2016.
This program will run 60-70 minutes and allows time for questions and answers.
“This Land is Your Land: The Folksongs of Woody Guthrie by Bucky Halker” will take place Sunday, August 8, 2021, at 2:30 p.m., at the Stockton Heritage Museum, 107 West Front Street, Stockton, IL. The event is free and open to all audiences. For more information, please visit our website at www.stocktonheritagemuseum.org, visit on Facebook: Stockton-Heritage-Museum-309324911534, email infto@stocktonheritagemuseum.org, or leave a message at 815-947-2220.
Stockton Heritage Museum is a not-for-profit entity dedicated to the preservation and teaching of Stockton area history. Visit the museum May-October, on Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., on Sundays, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., or by appointment. Email info@stocktonheritagemuseum.org for more information.
