Country Music Crooners Come to The White House

Photo by Gale Curcio Lyle Lovett performs "Where I've Been."

By Gale Curcio

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Presidents, Kings, Princes, Ambassadors, Heads of State and Monarchs have been guests in the State Dining Room. The largest room in the White House, it is used for entertaining, press conferences, ceremonies, and occasionally for a large dinner.

Photo by Gale Curcio Darius Rucker performs "Let Her Cry."

On Monday, however, the honored guests were 120 students from Anacostia and Woodrow Wilson High Schools as well as Newport Middle School.
 
Along with teachers and chaperones, the students had been invited by First Lady Michelle Obama to take part in an interactive student workshop event: “The History of Country Music: From Barn Dances to Pop Charts.”

As part of their “In Performance at the White House” series, President and Mrs. Obama invited music legends and contemporary major artists to the White House for a celebration of country music.

As she has done with previous White House music events, the First Lady hosted the special daytime event for students as a precursor to the concert that was performed that same evening.

Mrs. Obama welcomed the students and suggested that they make the most of the opportunity of being at the White House with these artists.

“I want everybody to believe that anything is possible,” she said. “If I’m here [in the White House], you can be here.

“These artists will tell their story, and I hope that someday you will come back to the White House and tell your story to the next generation of young people.

“My hope for all of you is that you will figure out how you can turn something you love into a passion – whether it be music or business or medicine. No matter what sparks your imagination, take that energy and follow it.”

The Grammy Museum in Lose Angeles’ Executive Director Robert Santelli talked about the history and cultural significance of country music – from “barn dances” to the Great Depression – and how country music has evolved and crossed over to today’s pop charts.  

“Amazing things happened in the nation in the early 1900’s,” said Santelli. “There was an explosion in music. No other country can match the amount of music that came out of the United States in the 20th century – over a dozen new forms.”

Photo by Gale Curcio First Lady Michelle Obama welcomes students and introduces the performers.

He asked the students to name some of those genres and they came up with a few – rock & roll, blues, punk, hip hop, R&B, swing, jazz and gospel.

“A nation of immigrants brought their music and put all their musical influences into a melting pot,” Santelli said. “Back in the 1800’s, there was folk music. That evolved into country music.”

Grammy Award winning artists Lyle Lovett, Darius Rucker (the frontman for Hootie and The Blowfish) and Kris Kristofferson shared their experiences about growing up and breaking into the music business.

Lovett talked about how he attended Texas A&M and planned to be a journalist. From a young age, however, he knew that he only wanted to play and sing and make up songs.

“My parents worked hard,” Lovett said. “Because they made choices about what they had to do, they let me make choices about what I wanted to do.”

Kristofferson had a different experience, and said, “My mother disowned me – she said that nobody over the age of 14 listens to that music.

“Best thing I ever did was to follow my heart. I recommend that – it was nothing but the best for me. It’s been a great life.”

Rucker said that he had a mother who wanted him to do anything he wanted.

“It was my brothers who gave me a hard time,” he said. “I just wanted to go out in the world and have fun.”

Photo by Gale Curcio The White House invitation that students received.

As one of the few black country singers, he said, “Color doesn’t matter. If it moves your soul and heart, that’s what you have to do – then do it.”

A former member of the band, “Hootie and the Blowfish,” he said that they performed for nine years before they had an offer to record.

“Some of the places we performed were really bad, but we kept playing,” he said. “It took a long time – you have to be willing to sacrifice.”

Kristofferson said that he didn’t make a dime until he was 33.

Students then asked about had a chance to ask questions and then each of the artists performed one of their songs.

A persistent theme by Santelli and the artists was the importance of listening to all kinds of music and how the different genres all cross over.

When Carlos from Woodrow Wilson asked how he could incorporate hip hop, Lovett said, “Lots of country songs started as hip hop. There’s no reason to limit creativity.”

Charles from Woodrow Wilson wanted to know how the artists decided to become country music singers.

“I was interested in everything,” said Rucker. “I just wanted to sing. I connected with a rock & roll band, but I could have just as soon started singing something else.”

Lovett said that he didn’t necessarily think of himself as a country singer, but he went to Nashville because that was where the publishers who were interested in songs were.

Growing up in Brownsville, Texas on the border of Mexico, Kristofferson said, “I grew up singing Mexican songs. It wasn’t a big jump to soul and country.”