Pittonkatonk and Valuing Music as a Public Good
Richard Randall
The 2014 Pittonkatonk May Day Brass BBQ created a space where people came together to celebrate the work involved in collectively making music. This chapter describes some of the key economic conditions Pittonkatonk was responding to, how we sought to address these conditions, how the project has worked in practice, and how it has developed over the years. The project has sought to address social inequalities that are amplified in commercial music contexts. It has worked to raise awareness about the different kinds of work it takes to produce a live music event and actively questions who is involved in the process. This chapter argues that the work of making music happen – the performing, listening, and producing – can be used to create a public good. The value of this good is found in the social understanding it engenders and the creation of a musical culture distinct from that of the commodity form.
Richard Randall is a musician, activist, and academic in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He co-created Pittonkatonk in 2014 and was co-director until 2017. He teaches at Carnegie Mellon University and his research examines music as social practice and its neuroscientific basis, and as a means of achieving positive personal, social, and political outcomes.
Richard Randall
The 2014 Pittonkatonk May Day Brass BBQ created a space where people came together to celebrate the work involved in collectively making music. This chapter describes some of the key economic conditions Pittonkatonk was responding to, how we sought to address these conditions, how the project has worked in practice, and how it has developed over the years. The project has sought to address social inequalities that are amplified in commercial music contexts. It has worked to raise awareness about the different kinds of work it takes to produce a live music event and actively questions who is involved in the process. This chapter argues that the work of making music happen – the performing, listening, and producing – can be used to create a public good. The value of this good is found in the social understanding it engenders and the creation of a musical culture distinct from that of the commodity form.
Richard Randall is a musician, activist, and academic in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He co-created Pittonkatonk in 2014 and was co-director until 2017. He teaches at Carnegie Mellon University and his research examines music as social practice and its neuroscientific basis, and as a means of achieving positive personal, social, and political outcomes.
Link 15.1: “Black Culture” by the UPrep 6–12 band
Link 15.2: May 2, 2015 was declared “Pittonkatonk Day” in the city of Pittsburgh by proclamation of the Pittsburgh City Council
What Cheer? Brigade closes out Pittonkatonk, 2014. Photo by Ray Gerard.
