Join us at West Branch for Prince as a Revolution: How “The Artist” Changed Music and the Music Business.
Prince was a musical phenomenon without peers, from his transcendent songs to his kinetic live performances. But due to his restless artistic output and quest for secrecy, tracking how revolutionary Prince was across the musical spectrum has been mysterious until now.
Musician and historian Mark Montgomery French will lead an immersive one-hour talk exploring the depths of The Purple One’s genius from multiple angles. You’ll see rare music videos, listen to and dissect his multi-tracks, and explore his songwriting through his unique studio processes. You’ll also learn about his battles for gender, racial, financial, and artistic equity. It’s like a live documentary, with jokes!
San Francisco-native Mark Montgomery French is an award-winning film composer with the group Spiky Blimp, an award-winning Creative Director and Co-Producer of Glide Memorial Church’s Sunday Celebration, host of the YouTube music review show “Still Got It” and the podcast “All Your Favorite Music is (Probably)…”, staff writer at PopMatters, and the manager of critically acclaimed queer country band Secret Emchy Society and classic power-punk band The Furys. He’s also a music historian noted for his talk All Your Favorite Music is (Probably) Black, the series 28 Days, 28 Black Music Documentaries, and Uppity Music—Your Guide to Unsung Black Departure Albums. He was formerly the co-leader of the ’90s progressive funk band Endangered Species.