Road trip music in the district: Washington DC

Before the city of Washington and the District of Columbia came into being, the area around the shore of the Potomac River was a crossroads. It has remained so as the city, and the country, have changed over the years.

The many programs of the Kennedy Center are places where the arts cross and intertwine. Kim and Reggie Harris are part of the Kennedy Center’s workshop program where they offer teachers training in ways music and the arts can help them connect with their students.

African American heritage music is part of what they teach, and they've recorded several albums on music related to the underground railroad of slavery times. On Steal Away they focus on songs such as Go Down Moses, and Follow the Drinking Gourd, which often had dual meanings of spiritual uplift and practical direction as slaves made their way to freedom. On Get on Board! they continue this and continue into songs of the civil rights era, with guest appearances from Guy Davis, Bernice Johnson Reagon (you’ll learn more about her music as the road trip travels to Georgia), Danny Glover, and others.

You may also wish to see


Listening to Irish and Scottish music in Old Town Alexandria
Music Road: Billy McComiskey: Outside the Box
Black history to explore in Alexandria, Virginia at Perceptive Travel

This is part of The Great American Road Trip, in which I originally partnered up with A Traveler’s Library to add musical ideas to the book and film suggestions for journeys through the regions of the United States which you’d find there. The Library is closed now, but I think you will still find the journeys through music interesting.

For more about the road trip (and a look at some great road songs) see Great American Road Trip: Music begins

-->Music Road is reader supported . Your support for Music Road is welcome and needed. If you are able to chip in, here is a way to do that, through PayPal. Note that you do not have to have a PayPal account to do this. Thank you.