Music of Iowa
Encyclopedia
The music of Iowa includes such notable musician
s as Slipknot
, The Envy Corps
, Radio Moscow
, Modern Life Is War
, Unknown Component
, Bix Beiderbecke
and Greg Brown, as well as Meredith Willson
, composer of The Music Man
, and Alice Ettinger who was renowned enough to perform in Europe in the 1890s. Famed swing era musician and band leader Glenn Miller
was born in Clarinda. Iowa is also home to metal bands, Infandous and Black Market Fetus. The city of Walnut
is home to the National Traditional Country Music Association (NTCMA), which produces programs for local radio and television in Iowa. NTCMA also operates the Walnut Country Opera House, which is a theatre and home to several halls of fame and museums. The town of Clear Lake
is known as the place the Big Bopper
, Buddy Holly
and Ritchie Valens
took off from on the day they died; their last performance was at the Surf Ballroom
. The Escorts (Iowa band) (Do's & Don'ts) are one of the first bands to be inducted into the Iowa Rock N Roll Music Association's Hall of Fame.
, which draws upwards of 50,000 people according to The Country Music Lover's Guide to the U.S.A... Iowa is also home to the Iowa Women's Music Festival and the Central Iowa Traditional Dance and Music Festival in Ames
. In July 2008, the inaugural 80/35 Music Festival
was held in Des Moines, drawing an estimated 30,000 music fans over 2 days.
Garner, Iowa
has been home to the Bash on the Farm Christian Music festival since 2002. The free concert features regional acts as well as national acts such as Stellar Kart, The Wedding, Keith Tkachuk and the Flying Mongooses, and 3sp.
The three major University music institutions in Iowa include the Iowa State University School of Music in Ames, University of Iowa School of Music in Iowa City, and The University of Northern Iowa School of Music in Cedar Falls. Other colleges with music programs include Wartburg, Luther, Cornell, Morningside, and Drake, among others. Also, there is the Celtic Music Association of Des Moines. Major venues include the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines.
The Nordic Choir at Luther College in Decorah has performed around the world, appearing in Norway, England, Germany, Russia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, the Baltic countries, Mexico and the Caribbean. The Nordic Choir has also appeared throughout the United States, performing in well-known concert halls as Lincoln Center in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Additionally, Luther College has the largest collegiate choral program in the United States with almost 600 student singers.
Foot-Notes of Decorah began playing Scandinavian-American old time dance music in 1991 under the leadership of fiddler Beth Hoven Rotto. Foot-Notes maintains an oral tradition of tunes passed down by old time fiddlers in the "borderlands" around Decorah, Iowa, and Spring Grove, Minnesota, most prominent of these fiddlers being Bill Sherburne, a notable Norwegian-American fiddler who died at age 90 in 1991. Rotto apprenticed with Sherburne and learned his complete repertoire of old-time tunes before his passing. The band continues a tradition of playing for community dances in a rustic 1911 vintage two-room schoolhouse in Highlandville, Iowa, where such dances began in the mid-1970s with the music of Bill Sherburne and his band. Foot-Notes music has been featured on Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa public radio and Norwegian national radio programs. The group was selected to represent the State of Iowa at the Smithsonian Institution's Festival of American Folklife in 1996 and the Festival of Iowa Folklife in Des Moines that same year. [www.footnotesdance.com]
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
s as Slipknot
Slipknot (band)
Slipknot is an American heavy metal band from Des Moines, Iowa. Formed in 1995, the group was founded by percussionist Shawn Crahan and bassist Paul Gray...
, The Envy Corps
The Envy Corps
The Envy Corps are an American indie rock band from Ames, Iowa. The band are known for their atmospheric-meets-pop sound, attracting comparisons to Radiohead, Doves, New Order, Dinosaur Jr., and Modest Mouse...
, Radio Moscow
Radio Moscow (band)
Radio Moscow is an American psychedelic blues band from Story City, Iowa. Formed in 2003 by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Parker Griggs, the band currently features bassist Zach Anderson and live drummer Cory Berry...
, Modern Life Is War
Modern Life Is War
Modern Life Is War , was a Marshalltown, Iowa-based melodic hardcore punk band. They were known for their incendiary live shows and unique take on the melodic hardcore and hardcore sound, usually avoiding standard songs structures and almost entirely abandoning the use of breakdowns...
, Unknown Component
Unknown Component
Unknown Component is the musical project of Keith Lynch based out of Des Moines, Iowa. To date the project consists of seven self-released independent albums, and two unreleased albums, volumes I and II. All of which were written, and recorded by Lynch...
, Bix Beiderbecke
Bix Beiderbecke
Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke was an American jazz cornetist, jazz pianist, and composer.With Louis Armstrong, Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s...
and Greg Brown, as well as Meredith Willson
Meredith Willson
Robert Meredith Willson was an American composer, songwriter, conductor and playwright, best known for writing the book, music and lyrics for the hit Broadway musical The Music Man...
, composer of The Music Man
The Music Man
The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping town with...
, and Alice Ettinger who was renowned enough to perform in Europe in the 1890s. Famed swing era musician and band leader Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
was born in Clarinda. Iowa is also home to metal bands, Infandous and Black Market Fetus. The city of Walnut
Walnut, Iowa
Walnut is a city in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The population was 778 at the 2000 census. Walnut is located on Interstate 80 and is famous for its many antique stores...
is home to the National Traditional Country Music Association (NTCMA), which produces programs for local radio and television in Iowa. NTCMA also operates the Walnut Country Opera House, which is a theatre and home to several halls of fame and museums. The town of Clear Lake
Clear Lake, Iowa
Clear Lake is a city in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, United States. The population was 8,161 at the 2000 census. The city is named for the large lake on which it is located. It is the home of a number of marinas, state parks and tourism-related businesses. Clear Lake is also a major stop on Interstate...
is known as the place the Big Bopper
The Big Bopper
Jiles Perry "J. P." Richardson, Jr. also commonly known as The Big Bopper, was an American disc jockey, singer, and songwriter whose big voice and exuberant personality made him an early rock and roll star...
, Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...
and Ritchie Valens
Ritchie Valens
Ritchie Valens was a Mexican-American singer, songwriter and guitarist....
took off from on the day they died; their last performance was at the Surf Ballroom
Surf Ballroom
The Surf Ballroom is a Historic Rock and Roll Landmark at 460 North Shore Drive, Clear Lake, Iowa. The Surf is closely associated with The Day the Music Died - early rock and roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson gave their last performances at the Surf on...
. The Escorts (Iowa band) (Do's & Don'ts) are one of the first bands to be inducted into the Iowa Rock N Roll Music Association's Hall of Fame.
Festivals
Clear Lake is also home to the annual Buddy Holly Tribute festival. There is a National Old-Time Country Music Contest and Festival in AvocaAvoca, Iowa
Avoca is a city in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,610 at the 2000 census.-History:Avoca was founded in 1869 in connection with the construction of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad through the area. It quickly developed as a regional service center for...
, which draws upwards of 50,000 people according to The Country Music Lover's Guide to the U.S.A... Iowa is also home to the Iowa Women's Music Festival and the Central Iowa Traditional Dance and Music Festival in Ames
Ames, Iowa
Ames is a city located in the central part of the U.S. state of Iowa in Story County, and approximately north of Des Moines. The U.S. Census Bureau designates that Ames, Iowa metropolitan statistical area as encompassing all of Story County, and which, when combined with the Boone, Iowa...
. In July 2008, the inaugural 80/35 Music Festival
80/35 Music Festival
80/35 is a multi-day music festival in Des Moines, Iowa celebrating music and the people who support music. The name comes from the two prominent interstates, I-80 and I-35, that meet at the corner of Des Moines. The festival includes a stage for national touring bands and several smaller stages...
was held in Des Moines, drawing an estimated 30,000 music fans over 2 days.
Garner, Iowa
Garner, Iowa
Garner is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Iowa, United States. The population was 3,129 in the 2010 census, an increase from 2,922 in the 2000 census. -History:...
has been home to the Bash on the Farm Christian Music festival since 2002. The free concert features regional acts as well as national acts such as Stellar Kart, The Wedding, Keith Tkachuk and the Flying Mongooses, and 3sp.
Music institutions and venues
Music institutions and venues Iowa is also home to the Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra, Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra, Des Moines Metro Opera, Dubuque Symphony Orchestra, Cedar Rapids Opera, Cedar Rapids Symphony Orchestra, and the Northwest Iowa Symphony Orchestra. The Cedar Rapids Symphony premiered in 1921, and continued to perform through the Great Depression and World War 2, one of the few symphonies to perform continually through this period, and is thus the oldest continually operating symphony west of the Mississippi River [2].The three major University music institutions in Iowa include the Iowa State University School of Music in Ames, University of Iowa School of Music in Iowa City, and The University of Northern Iowa School of Music in Cedar Falls. Other colleges with music programs include Wartburg, Luther, Cornell, Morningside, and Drake, among others. Also, there is the Celtic Music Association of Des Moines. Major venues include the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines.
The Nordic Choir at Luther College in Decorah has performed around the world, appearing in Norway, England, Germany, Russia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, the Baltic countries, Mexico and the Caribbean. The Nordic Choir has also appeared throughout the United States, performing in well-known concert halls as Lincoln Center in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Additionally, Luther College has the largest collegiate choral program in the United States with almost 600 student singers.
Ethnic musicians and groups
Performing Yiddish and Israeli folks music, the Java Jews are a (Jewish) Klezmer group based in Des Moines. Performed at the 2003, 2004 Iowa State Fair. [See external link]Foot-Notes of Decorah began playing Scandinavian-American old time dance music in 1991 under the leadership of fiddler Beth Hoven Rotto. Foot-Notes maintains an oral tradition of tunes passed down by old time fiddlers in the "borderlands" around Decorah, Iowa, and Spring Grove, Minnesota, most prominent of these fiddlers being Bill Sherburne, a notable Norwegian-American fiddler who died at age 90 in 1991. Rotto apprenticed with Sherburne and learned his complete repertoire of old-time tunes before his passing. The band continues a tradition of playing for community dances in a rustic 1911 vintage two-room schoolhouse in Highlandville, Iowa, where such dances began in the mid-1970s with the music of Bill Sherburne and his band. Foot-Notes music has been featured on Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa public radio and Norwegian national radio programs. The group was selected to represent the State of Iowa at the Smithsonian Institution's Festival of American Folklife in 1996 and the Festival of Iowa Folklife in Des Moines that same year. [www.footnotesdance.com]