Introduction

In the United States, the 1960s are remembered as a decade of intense political turmoil and social upheaval that ultimately has had lasting impacts on life in the country until today. Used as a form of protest and power, music was a significant aspect of much of this turmoil and upheaval, and many people, especially young adults growing up in the midst of it, turned to music for comfort, or to feel like they belonged and had a voice. The research question for this project looks at specific songs and artists and, through the medium of a magazine, looks at how the music of a generation connects to its economics, politics, and culture.

Literature Review

The documentary Laurel Canyon looks at a variety of musicians that lived in the canyons of California, and it explores how the events of the 1960s impacted their messages within their music (Ellwood). It was a major artistic influence for this project, and was impactful in the topics that the artist explored as well as the design elements that the artist incorporated into her magazine, such as certain photos or quotes. Along with this, there were many scholarly influences on the work, including Frye Galliard’s A Hard Rain. This work summarized “a transcendent era—one that, for better or worse, lives with us still” (Galliard, xii), using a personalized style of writing which greatly impacted the artist’s own and the way she conveyed her research. 

Methods

The main methods used while conducting research were literature reviews, examining pre-existing interviews with musicians and activists, and watching documentaries that provided me with the necessary background information to base my magazine articles around. A lot of information came from classes that the artist took at this University, which have provided her with a lot of context on the events leading up to the ones discussed in the articles so as to better convey their importance to the audience. She was able to build up her writing skills, as well as her design and formatting skills on the website Canva which helped her create an appealing magazine. 

Audience & Impact

The project is directed at anyone who enjoys learning about the history of popular music, or anyone who finds the era of the 1960s interesting. The audience will be able to learn something new about music history or about the history of music in this country, and how big of a role it played through important events such as the Vietnam War or the Civil Rights Movement; hopefully, they walk away with an urge to do more research. This project taught the artist a lot about how she approaches research and the large topics associated with it, such as pulling together information or reading pages of sources. It has allowed the artist to experiment with new mediums of storytelling, through the creation of a magazine, and as an artist, it has taught her a lot about design and how to make something appealing to an audience. 

References

Ellwood, Alison. Laurel Canyon: A Place In Time. Epix, 2020.

Gaillard, Frye. A Hard Rain: America in the 1960s, Our Decade of Hope, Possibility, and Innocence Lost. NewSouth Books, 2018.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank all of the Arts Scholars team, including Harold, Heather, Gabi, and Alex, along with all of my fellow Arts Scholars. Thank you for all of the feedback and support as we tackled our capstones! I’d also like to thank my friends and family, especially my dad for always being so supportive and encouraging of my college career and history endeavors so far.