Folk Studies

new UW-Eau Claire course explores roots of folk rock

Taylor Kuether |

BELOW: Woody Guthrie, shown here sticking it to the man.
 
Woody Guthrie, shown here sticking it to the man.

Baby boomers and those that grew up with the sounds of the 60s will be interested in UW-Eau Claire Continuing Education’s upcoming program, “American Folk Music: The Origins of Folk Rock.” The course is new this year and begins March 28. Taught by professor Ryan Jones of the UWEC Department of Music and Theatre Arts, students in the course will listen to, study, and discuss examples of music native to the 1960s folk revival era. Artists including Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan will be featured in the curriculum. The concept for the course came from the results of a survey conducted by Continuing Education, UW-Eau Claire’s Community Classes for Adults program, said Claire Couillard, outreach specialist for Continuing Education. “Data indicated that people were interested in folk music, so we decided to focus on 60s era music,” Couillard said. “The music of that era had such a strong impact on our country.” Jones was picked to teach the course due to his strong background in the subject. “He kind of framed the course and put it together and it looked really exciting,” Couillard said.

American Folk Music: The Origins of Folk Rock • Wednesdays, March 28-April 25 • Haas Fine Arts Room 159, UWEC campus • 6:45-8:45pm • $95 • uwec.edu/CE/programs/folkmusic.htm