When then-President Richard Nixon sat down at the piano on the stage of the Grand Old Opry in 1974, he was reinforcing a conservative, polemical wall of sound to help contain several decades of transformational popular music, from blues and jazz to rock & roll. Music was the last thing on his mind.

As part of his notorious race-based “southern strategy,” Nixon led the efforts of conservative elites to co-opt American country-western music. He got the idea from George Wallace’s 1968 campaign, which Wallace had filled with country stars like Hank Snow and Hank Williams Jr.

Ray Wylie Hubbard — Conversation With The Devil.

The rhythms, melodies and lyrics of popular music can lift us out of the present, feed our desire for collective joy, and give us a private and comfortable escape. They can also enlighten hearts and minds. Song can celebrate our common humanity and bring us together for common purpose, as when civil rights marchers sang “We Shall Overcome.”

Featuring new videos from Ray Wilie Hubbard and Scott Miller.