Blog: Dunbar Sets Out On Pilgrimage to Explore Roots of American Music

HOMETOWN Hampton, N.H.

STUDIES Music and English major

WHAT HE IS BLOGGING ABOUT Funded by a grant from the Summer Research Program In the Humanities, Social Sciences and Fine Arts at the College of the Holy Cross, Mike Dunbar will be taking an American musician’s pilgrimage. Playing original music along the way, Dunbar will be traveling with high school classmate and fellow band member Collin Garcia, a 2015 graduate of Saint Anselm College. The duo will meet local musicians, give street and open mic performances, and encounter music in its native soil. At the end of July, they will return home to New Hampshire, where Dunbar will render the experience into a collection of songs.

WHERE HE IS GOING Dunbar will compose a new collection of songs about the experience of driving cross-country to the epicenters of American music including: • Bristol, Tennessee, the “birthplace” of country music • Memphis, Tennessee • Nashville, Tennessee • Tupelo, Mississippi, the birthplace of Elvis Presley • New Orleans • Rolling Fork, Mississippi, the birthplace of Muddy Waters • Greenwood, Mississippi, where he will be recording with New England Music Awards’ Producer of the Year Brian Coombes at blues legend Robert Johnson’s grave. • Chicago • San Francisco • Woodstock

WHAT HE IS LOOKING FORWARD TO "Going to the South, seeing the places that influenced the music that influenced me, recording at Robert Johnson's grave, and the moment I reach the West Coast and see the ocean again is also most exciting.”

HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT HIM Whether you are a veteran musician, a working artist, or a fellow Holy Cross alum, Dunbar is seeking opportunities to collaborate with other artists in each locale. You can connect with Dunbar through his blog or social media to find out where you can see him perform or join him on stage.

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Related Information

• Follow Mike and Collin on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. • ‘New Hampshire Musician Mike Dunbar Hits the Road’ • ‘Dunbar awarded grant to write, record’ • ‘On Debut Album, Seacoast Band Black Agnes Explores The Meaning Of Home’