Woody Guthrie and his guitar bearing a note read: This Machine KILLS Fascists.

Music Brings People Together

Much the focus of the FMP was creating higher class music. Much like Flannagan's FTP, something had to give. Music became much more integrated with culture, and this project brought this relationship to the fore. It was a way of expressing new things, giving us talented voices like Paul Robeson, Woody Guthrie, and Leadbelly who represent aspects of Folk music. 

Paul and Woody both created songs that focus on the struggle of Americans and how they should come together and work as one, glorifying much of American culture in the process (especially in Robeson's "Ballad for Americans"). Leadbelly represented the image of other ethnicities in the folk world, a minor voice being put in front and enjoyed across the states. These people their songs, rooted in the blended American culture, moved stirring them to action. The FMP worked so well because it was able to keep is popularist and other ideas in check with the nationalism.

This gathering of people would continue to stick together through the wartimes as the music travelled with them.

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The Federal Music Project was very much the hidden gem of the Cultural New Deal. Not only was able to bring the American people together with music and song, but it also preserved various kinds of cultures through their music, establishing a sense of the "Folk." Much of the music they recorded ranged from these folktunes to grand cantatas and orchestral movements. Each one having its own feel of emotion and movement.

Many hymnals and songs recorded from the South like in Fort Valley, Georgia often involved groups of singers coming together. Often was the case with these songs, there were meanings in the words. "I'll Fly Away" involves the chorus and leader singing together about escaping slavery with an angel's wings. This reflects how the past affected African Americans then and continues to persist in their time. And even though it touches on a tough topic, the hope of freedom the words convey brings these men together.

People like Alan Lomax took the time to record these songs and make sure they were preserved. Many stories were also recorded and even some poems and songs.