Musical Cities at TESC looks at how a city’s structure, culture, art, theater, media, population, politics, history, economics, class, and people impact the outcome of music, and vice versa (ex. propaganda)
Before I leave for my field study it would be good to acknowledge the history of the Northwest and how that has radically impacted cultures and society today. Including the history of a city and it’s suburban areas could be helpful when looking directly at the city’s grid. Residential locals and transient locals will be interviewed during this study.
My main question: How does music travel?
In order to answer this my research will be in three different cities: Seattle, Olympia, and Portland. Looking at different venues in different districts, what kind of bands and artists play there, where they are headed, and where they came from. A visual and creative map(s) of the bands that come in and out of the North West will be made in order to see what influences they might be bringing and distributing from across the world. Both the nitty gritty and the ritzy fritzy sides of all cities will be explored in order to gage properly what music people relate to most in a certain area and how they keep it alive.
Most of the study in Olympia will be spent volunteering at the Rhythm and Rye looking at past and present shows to find a pattern and major influence for Olympia’s music scene.
Colleges and Universities are to be considered to understand what is frequently played on the radio, what kind of shows listeners enjoy the most, and what outside shows are hosted and where.