“Musicians Have Got To Eat, Too!”

This chapter discusses the importance of the New Deal and the Federal Music Project (FMP). The New Deal stands as the Roosevelt administration's response to the catastrophic events during the Great Depression, and for many Americans, the support of the Music Projects and the other programs were their solitary lifelines to survival. Though immediate relief and rehabilitation were clearly the primary objectives of New Deal efforts, there remained for the four art projects other unstated objectives. Several contemporary scholars have characterized the wider goals of Federal One as pursuit of a “cultural democracy”—and Federal One would provide not only economic relief for the unemployed but artistic uplift as well. Indeed, many involved with the FMP found new inspiration in the varied indigenous and regional musical traditions of their particular localities.