The music of Iowa includes such notable musicians as Slipknot, Stallions Versus Unicorns, 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. 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. The United States is home to a wide array of regional styles and scenes. ... Alaska is a state of the United States. ... Alabama has played a central role in the development of both blues and country music. ... Arkansas is a Southern state of the United States. ... The Samoas are a Polynesian island chain, currently divided between the independent state of Samoa (formerly Western Samoa) and an American territory called American Samoa. ... Arizonas musical history has been heavily influenced by Mexican immigrants. ... In the United States, California is commonly associated with the film, music, and arts industries; there are numerous world-famous Californian musicians. ... Colorado is a state of the United States, and has a notable reputation for music. ... Connecticut is a state of the United States in the New England region. ... The music of Washington D.C. is known for two primary scenes, hardcore and associated derivatives and a hip hop-dance music hybrid called go go. ... Delaware is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. ... Floridas ethnic diversity has led to a myriad of musical styles from punk rock to salsa and heavy metal being popular in various parts of the state. ... Georgias musical output includes Southern rap groups like Outkast and Goodie Mob, as well as a wide variety of rock, pop and country artists. ... Guam is an unincorporated territory of the United States. ... The music of Hawaii includes an array of traditional and popular styles, ranging from native Hawaiian folk music to modern rock and hip hop. ... Idaho has produced a number of musicians, including pop star Paul Revere and Doug Martsch of Built to Spill. ... Illinois, which includes Chicago, the third-largest city in the United States, has a wide musical heritage. ... The music of Indiana was strongly influenced by a large number of German and Irish immigrants who arrived in the 1830s. ... For many decades, Kansas has had a vibrant country and bluegrass scene. ... The Music of Kentucky is heavily centered on Appalachian folk music and its descendants, especially in eastern Kentucky. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... New England Conservatory of Music in Boston Massachusetts is a U.S. state in New England. ... Famous musicians from Maryland include Francis Scott Key, who wrote The Star-Spangled Banner and pop punksters Good Charlotte, from Waldorf. ... Maine is a state of the United States, located in New England. ... In Michigan, the city of Detroit has remained the capital of musical innovation for many years. ... The music of Minnesota has played a role in the historical and cultural development of Minnesota. ... St. ... The Northern Mariana Islands are an island chain dependency of the United States. ... Mississippi is best-known as the home of the blues, which developed among the freed African Americans in the latter half of the 19th century. ... Montana is a state of the United States. ... Most influentially, North Carolina country musicians like the North Carolina Ramblers helped solidify the sound of country in the late 1920s. ... The Music of North Dakota has followed general American trends over much of its history, beginning with ragtime and folk music, moving into big band and jazz. ... The state of Nebraska has spawned few big-name musicians, but has its own musical heritage. ... New Hampshire is a state of the United States, located in the New England region. ... New Mexico is a state of the Southwest United States. ... For most outsiders, Nevadan music is probably most closely associated with lounge singers like Wayne Newton playing in Las Vegas. ... One of the most renowned musicians from New Jersey is probably Bruce Springsteen, who became a 1980s icon with complex lyrical stories about teens growing up in Freehold and other economically depressed areas of New Jersey. ... In the United States, New York City has long been a musical hub and, in some ways, the musical capital of the country. ... The most famous musicians from Ohio are probably Marilyn Manson, Dean Martin and Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders; the 19th century composer Daniel Emmett, born in Ohio to a Virginian family, wrote many of the most popular songs in his era, including some that remain well-known. ... While the music of Oklahoma is relatively young, Oklahoma having been a state for less than a hundred years, it has a rich history and many fine musicians. ... Oregons music scene is most active in Portland and the college town of Eugene. ... The most famous musical innovaters to come out of Pennsylvania are perhaps the Philly sound in 1970s soul music, Gamble & Huff, The OJays, Teddy Pendergrass, Harold Melvin and The Delphonics, as well as jazz legends like Nina Simone and John Coltrane. ... The music of Puerto Rico has been influenced by African and European (especially Spanish) forms, and has become popular across the Caribbean and in some communities worldwide. ... Rhode Island is a state of the United States, located in the New England region. ... South Carolina is one of the Southern United States, and has produced a number of renowned performers of country, bluegrass and other styles. ... The United States state of South Dakota has an official state song, Hail! South Dakota, written by DeeCort Hammitt. ... The story of Tennessees contribution to American music is essentially the story of two cities: Nashville and Memphis. ... Texas has long been a center for musical innovation. ... Utah music has long been dominated culturally by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormons), although other groups have also played an important role. ... Virginias musical contribution to American culture has been diverse, and includes Piedmont blues musicians and later rock and roll bands, many centered at such college towns as Blacksburg, Charlottesville (home of Dave Matthews Band) and Richmond. ... The Virgin Islands are partially controlled by the United Kingdom and the United States, and have had long-standing cultural ties to the island nations to the south as well as to various European colonialists. ... Vermont is a state in the United States. ... The U.S. state of Washington includes several major hotbeds of musical innovation. ... Perhaps the most influential musical output of Wisconsin came from Port Washington, Ozaukee County during the 1920s, when Paramount Records released a series of blues and jazz recordings. ... West Virginias folk heritage is a part of the Appalachian folk music tradition, and includes styles of fiddling and other techniques reminiscent of Scotch-Irish music. ... The first music of Wyoming was played by various Native Americans tribes in the present-day U.S. state of Wyoming. ... A musician is a person who plays or composes music Musicians can be classified by their role in creating or performing music: A singer (or vocalist) uses his or her voice as an instrument. ... Slipknot (sometimes typeset as SlipKnoT to fit their logo) is a musical group made up of nine members from Des Moines, Iowa. ... Bix Beiderbecke (March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931) was a notable jazz cornet player. ... Greg Brown at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in 2004 For other people by this name, see Greg Brown. ... Robert Meredith Willson (18 May 1902 – 15 June 1984) was an American composer and playwright, best known as the writer of The Music Man. ... This article is about the Broadway musical. ... The 1890s were sometimes referred to as the Mauve Decade, because William Henry Perkins aniline dye allowed the widespread use of that colour in fashion, and also as the Gay Nineties, under the then-current usage of the word gay which referred simply to merriment and frivolity, with no... Walnut is a city located in Pottawattamie County, Iowa. ... Clear Lake is a city located in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa. ... Jiles Perry Richardson, Jr. ... Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), better known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and a pioneer of rock and roll. ... Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959), was a pioneer of rock and roll. ... The Surf Ballroom is located in Clear Lake, Iowa. ... The Escorts (later The Dos & Donts) are a 50s and 60s Rock and roll band from Iowa, United States. ...

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 Avoca, which draws upwards of 50,000 people according to the The Country Music Lover's Guide to the U.S.A..^[1]. Iowa is also home to the Iowa Women's Music Festival and the Central Iowa Traditional Dance and Music Festival in Ames. Avoca is a city in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. ... Main Street in downtown Ames in 2006 Ames is a city located in Central Iowa, about 30 miles North of Des Moines in Story County, Iowa, United States. ...

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 and The Wedding. Garner is a city in Hancock County, Iowa, United States. ...

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, Cedar Rapids OperaCedar 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.

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]

References

• Byron, Janet (1996). Country Music Lover's Guide to the U.S.A., 1st ed., New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-14300-1. 
• About the Cedar Rapids Symphony. Cedar Rapids Symphony. Retrieved on December 3, 2005.

http://music.luther.edu/tours/nordic/index.html Luther College website retrieved May 18, 2007

Notes

1. ^  Byron, pgs. 66-67
2. ^  Cedar Rapids Symphony

External links

• Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• [2]
• Give Away The Plot