We offer this class, teaching students to sing these songs by heart and with gusto, Mon. through Thursday evening through the Augusta Heritage Center at Davis and Elkins College in Elkins, WV.  We have teaching techniques that make the songs really stick! No solo singing required. Perfect for any age or level.

To sign up, scroll down here to “Evening Mini-Classes” and follow the process! You may also register in person at the Augusta office through noon on July 13.

Here’s a course description:

Song is a powerful organizing tool in the throats of such change agents as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Hazel Dickens, Jean Ritchie, Billy Edd Wheeler and others. Incredible labor struggles fought over months and years on dangerous picket lines have been inspired and sustained through songs whose images and messages were derived from the experience and aspirations of grassroots workers. This mini-class will present and teach students to sing formative songs which jump-started labor struggles, forging courage and union solidarity among militant workers, and helped bolster the unemployed. We will also introduce contemporary music of resistance to gas pipelines, and teach songs of hope that span national and global themes. Michael and Carrie Kline have sung and shared these songs on picket lines, marches, classrooms and in trainings across Appalachian coalfields and beyond. In four evening class sessions we will review and teach as many songs as time permits, along with their historical context.