Country Music in the Shadow of Gettysburg

Gettysburg College hosts Alice Randall at Mara Auditorium for a free lecture entitled ‘I’ll Cry for Yours, Will You Cry for Mine?’ that reflects on the history of Country Music in the shadow of Gettysburg. Randall discusses the potential of songs to serve as consolation, bridges across divides and mirrors that reveal national identity. Randall will also share a playlist of significant Country songs that engage the Civil War.

Alice Randall, New York Times best-selling novelist, award-winning songwriter, educator, and food activist, is the only Black woman in history to write both a number one Country song (XXX’s and OOO’s) and an ACM video of the year (Is There Life Out There? starring Reba McEntire).

As country music goes through a fresh renaissance today, with a new wave of Black artists enjoying success, My Black Country, Randall’s book, is “a celebration of all things country music” (Ken Burns) that reflects on Randall’s search for the first family of Black country music. 

The program is made possible by the Endeavor Foundation, and is sponsored by the Gettysburg College Office of the Provost, and the Ann McIlhenny Harward Program for Culture and Music at Gettysburg College.