Music historian E. Alan Autrey, lecturer in history at Lamar University, will trace the roots of Rockabilly through the music genres of the blues, swing, rock, and western swing and possibly gospel in a presentation May 15 at the McFaddin-Ward House Museum. The program, “Whole Lotta Music Going On: Roots of Rockabilly in the '30s and '40s' will be a combination of history talk and music performance.
The hour-long program starts at 6:30 p.m. in the visitor center lecture hall, located on Calder Avenue and Third Street. The lecture is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will follow the presentation.
Autrey teaches U.S. history survey courses at Lamar, and one of his research interests includes the history of American music. He will play the electric guitar to illustrate the musical chording and tempos to show the evolution of rockabilly music. Some of the music artists Autrey admires and will demo are the great rockabillys who began at Sun Records in Memphis. Among them are Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, and of course, Elvis.
The McFaddin-Ward House hosts a series of three lectures yearly. Autrey’s talk is the second in the 2008 series. It follows a March lecture exploring the architectural history of Beaumont in March. The final lecture is slated for the fall.
