I have been fortunate enough to be invited as the resident musicologist for The Motown Revival Project, a joint initiative spearheaded by the Promised Land Community Club, funded in part by the Tennessee Arts Commission (ABC Grant), and supported by PLCC partner Jim Lutz, Executive Director and CEO of the Quest Center in Dickson, TN.

I will be facilitating in-class sessions with the young people all week that will culminate in the formation of a Motown Revival Youth Choir.  

The young people will be gathered for a day long intensive workshop session from 10AM-4PM on Saturday, March 28th to review what they have learned, learn new music, and sharpen their performance skills in anticipation of a  casual public concert at the end of the day.  

The Choir will, through this powerful music, share their experience with their community and shed light on the role and influence of this vital era of musical creativity and cultural activism on the world in much the same way that the soul singers of that era were carrying forward the long tradition of singing for freedom, justice, and equality.

These workshops, equal parts live performance and storytelling, will explore

• the Motown golden era (1960-1970) and will include facts and perspectives on its place in music, historical and American/world culture

• the business motivation for starting the label;

• the sociopolitical influences on the label/artists and the social impact it had during the civil rights movement.  

• the significance of Freedom Songs by recounting the historical development of these protest songs from field hollers, work songs, Spirituals and slave songs and their evolution into the soul music of Motown, Stax, Philly Soul and others.

For more info, contact Serina Gilbert at (615) 789-5859, or email gilbertsk@bellsouth.net.