Songs of Solidarity, Songs of Struggle: A Brief Introduction to Songs of Social Movements

A couple of weeks ago, I could not have predicted that I would come upon another way of crafting a Southern Songs and Stories podcast in this fashion. Regular or even casual listeners will be familiar with the go-to format of documentary style profiles of and interviews with music artists in this series; those of you who listen a lot will probably be familiar with some of the less traveled paths we have taken here as well, which include a remembrance for a friend and colleague who passed away unexpectedly, a survey of how western NC folks in the music business were coping in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Helene, as well as an old school, comedic Christmas radio drama, among others. Add to that list this episode, which is a live podcast, at least for part of it. And we are talking about a subject that is incredibly deep and wide, a subject which could easily fill a year’s worth of episodes. It is a subject that I will revisit again in more depth in coming months — perhaps not here, but at least in person. More on that in the podcast itself, which I hope you enjoy hearing as much as I did in making it.

Here, we excerpt two parts of a presentation I gave at Queens University in Charlotte as part of their Senior Scholars series on January 17th, 2025. This episode adds to that original talk with additional commentary, music, and new avenues of exploration for the topic, which is essentially the impact from music born of social movements, especially as it relates to radio. At Queens, I gave an overview of 13 songs associated with four social movements: Labor, Civil Rights, Feminism and Environmentalism. Here, we focus on the portions of my talk on Labor and Civil Rights, with example songs ranging from hillbilly music from a 1930s cotton mill man (“Cotton Mill Colic”) to the most controversial and simultaneously most successful song in Billie Holiday’s career (“Strange Fruit”), and more.

Songs heard in this episode:

“Gastonia Gallop” by David McCarn, from Gastonia Gallop: Cotton Mill Songs and Hillbilly Blues

“Which Side Are You On?” by Pete Seeger, from If I Had A Hammer, excerpt

“Which Side Are You On?” by Ani Difranco, from Which Side Are You On?, excerpt

“Cotton Mill Colic” by David McCarn, from Gastonia Gallop, excerpt

“Cotton Mill Colic” by Mike Seeger, from Classic Labor Songs, excerpt

“Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday, excerpt

“Blowin’ In the Wind” by Bob Dylan, from The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, excerpt

“Blowin’ In the Wind” by Tangled Up In Bluegrass, from A Tribute To Bob Dylan

Thanks for joining us! We hope you can help spread awareness of what we are doing. It is as easy as telling a friend and following this podcast on your platform of choice. You can find us on Apple here, and Spotify here — hundreds more episodes await, filled with artists you may know and love already, or musicians and bands that are ready to become your next favorites.

This series is a part of the lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to Tom Hanchett and to everyone at Queens University, especially Steve Lauer, for their help in making this episode possible. Thanks also to Jaclyn Anthony for producing the radio adaptations of this series on WNCW, where we worked with Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs — you can link to his music here. This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick