First Friday: Folk Music of WWI

Music often reflects the feelings and actions of people regarding events they experience. Performers Jeff Bronfeld, Al Millus, Julian Shepherd, and Charlene Thomson will play popular and trench music associated with World War I. In between sets they will also relate the history of this music.

Music in the 1900s was a popular medium for conveying messages, which made it a great vehicle for propaganda at the time. In 1915, the popular song of the day was “I Didn’t Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier.” However, just two years later, it became “Over There,” a patriotic song created to galvanize the public toward war.

*First Friday admission is half-price ($4) from 5 – 9pm, which includes a free planetarium show.