Sigma Alpha Iota

sai-national.org • Summer 2023 19 By Dana Gorzelany-Mostak In 1992, Bill Clinton famously wielded his saxophone on e Arsenio Hall Show, channeling his childhood idol Elvis Presley. In a 2008 speech following a presidential debate, Barack Obama dismissed primary opponent Hillary Clinton's acrimonious attacks by brushing dirt off his shoulders — a nod to Jay- Z's track "Dirt off Your Shoulder." e silhouette of Donald Trump slowly came into focus at the 2016 Republican National Convention as Queen's "We Are the Champions" resonated throughout the arena. In these moments of musical engagement, the candidates were constructing not merely their presidential identities, but the identity of the American presidency as well. Since 2006, I have worked to establish a critical framework for the analysis of popular songs within the context of the presidential campaign. A politician uses popular music to constitute their identity in sound and to assert their brand on a sonic register, offering insight into their character, their beliefs, and their values. Because of its connotative power and affective properties, popular music becomes a platform for creating a community of supporters and defining who they are as well. Clinton's sax playing, Obama's Jay-Z nod, and Donald Trump's epic entrance clearly resonated with the candidates' respective supporters, but their use of music on the campaign trail is in no way unprecedented. US politicians have used music to their advantage since the formative years of our nation. Launched in 2015, Trax on the Trail is a website and research project that tracks and catalogues the soundscapes of contemporary US presidential campaigns. While we are all encouraged to critically engage with images and texts, the persuasive power of sound and music is oen le out of the equation. With contributions from scholars across the US and Canada, I created the Trax on the Trail website with the goal of promoting a more critical evaluation of how music and sound shape the public's perceptions of presidential candidates. e Trax on the Trail website provides accessible content on the subject of music and elections. is includes essays, podcasts, digital lectures, and educational materials. e cornerstone of the website is Trail Trax, a database where our team tracks and catalogues music heard on the presidential campaign trail. With over 8000 entries compiled since 2015, this database represents the first attempt to document, analyze, and catalogue campaign soundscapes. Equally committed to advancing scholarly inquiry into the function of sound in electioneering, Trax team members have presented their work in classrooms, community centers, and colleges around the country, as well as published their research in scholarly journals, including Music & Politics, American Music, and the Journal of Popular Music Studies. Trax on the Trail has been cited by various media outlets, including Politico, Newsweek, the BBC, e Guardian, Slate, e Boston Herald, Elite Daily, and Variety. My forthcoming book, Tracks on the Trail: Popular Music, Race, and the US Presidency (University of Michigan Press), is the outgrowth of this website and research project. With chapters on Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Ben Carson, Kamala Harris, and Donald Trump, Tracks on the Trail analyzes the official and unofficial musical activity of each campaign, shedding light on the phenomenon of campaign music and the integral role it plays in candidate identity formation. While this book draws on various critical frameworks and includes some music analyses, it is accessible to a general readership. How will the 2024 candidates reveal their identities through music? Visit us at www.traxonthetrail.com to find out! Dana Gorzelany-Mostak is an Associate Professor of Music at Georgia College & State University and an expert on US music and electoral politics. An initiate of Epsilon Chapter, she currently serves as the Tau C Province Officer. Tracking Music on the Presidential Campaign Trail Dana Gorzelany-Mostak, Dana Gorzelany-Mostak, founder and author founder and author of Trax on the Trail of Trax on the Trail Photo: Shelby Light Photo: Shelby Light Music Education

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