Attendees at Tuesday night’s first annual Congressional Record performance, which saw members of Congress join professional musicians on stage to play before a captive audience of staffers and lobbyists, were reminded that all politics are vocal.
It turns out that when their voices aren’t too hoarse from stumping for votes or shouting down their colleagues on the floor, a few U.S. representatives can carry a tune. And even those who couldn’t hit a single note Tuesday were singing from the same choirbook: Extolling the importance of arts education and continued congressional funding for it.
(Full disclosure: Roll Call was the night’s media sponsor.)
Rep. Jake LaTurner, a Kansas Republican, drew cheers and shouts of surprise as he belted Frank Sinatra’s old standard, “New York, New York.” Performing as “AstroMax,” Florida Democratic Reps. Darren Soto (vocals and guitar) and Maxwell Alejandro Frost (drums) performed an original, “Treasure Island.”
“Treasure Island days seem to last forever, just like heaven up above / I’ll call you the one I love,” Soto sang, channeling Jimmy Buffett.
Iowa Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson treated the crowd to an instrumental version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” on violin (with the help of three Kennedy Center performers rounding out her quartet). Democratic Rep. Sean Casten of Illinois followed that with a piano rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s “Thunder Road” — with the support of Cranston Dean, a professional New Jersey-bred singer, on vocals.
Democratic Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove of California one-upped Casten’s reliance on professionals, singing backup vocals for Wiley Brown — the son of famed go-go guitarist Chuck Brown — who performed an extended version of “Bustin’ Loose” that, 90 minutes into the show, finally drew the audience to their feet. Democratic Rep. Becca Balint of Vermont strapped on an acoustic guitar and channeled Kate Wolf, singing “Across the Great Divide.”
Hinson later joined Democratic Reps. Jared Huffman of California and Morgan McGarvey of Kentucky for a rousing rendition of “The Weight” by The Band, forming a Republican-Democrat supergroup to mirror the original supergroup’s Canadian-American membership.
After that, New York Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi joined that trio to play “Man of Constant Sorrow,” the folk song popularized by the Coen brothers’ Odyssey-inspired film, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
The professional politicians in Congress frequently pursue their amateur hobbies before crowds, like at the Congressional Baseball Game. Tuesday’s performances were less jarring than seeing them play beer-league-level ball on a Major League field; it was closer to a competitive open-mic night at an Oberlin or NYU bar (but not, like, Berklee).
In between performances, members of Congress spoke in favor of the arts, including Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Congressional Musicians Caucus co-chair Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas. There were also recorded clips from professional musicians Ben Folds, Dionne Warwick and Yo-Yo Ma urging Congress to support funding for arts education.
Genesis, or The Starting Line
The event was the brainchild of Kevin Canafax, a public affairs executive at Fidelity Investments. He noticed how many local business and nonprofit leaders he worked with in Cincinnati were also amateur musicians — Canafax plays in a Led Zeppelin tribute band. That soon led to “Suits That Rock,” an annual fundraiser for arts education that has raised more than $2 million over the years.
A few years back, Canafax started to think about taking his Southern Ohio show on the road to Washington, but the planning never got too far. “Fast-forward to about 17 months ago. I was, like a lot of Americans, very frustrated with what was happening in our country. You know, the political vitriol, the divisiveness. And I thought, you know, music is a great unifier. It brings people together,” he said.
Canafax again started looking for musicians with congressional connections and came across an old Roll Call article about Geoff Browning, who was then a staffer for Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Katherine M. Clark by day, and touring with his band by night (or, more accurately, by recess). So, Canafax sent a Facebook message to Browning, who now works for IT firm ServiceNow. Browning was in, and the ball started rolling.
“Momentum begets momentum,” Canafax said.
The Kennedy Center, the Library of Congress and the Recording Academy all signed on to present the event.
Unlike Canafax’s original concert series, Congressional Record couldn’t fundraise directly. But advocating for federal funding on Capitol grounds is perfectly fine, and Tuesday’s show was effectively a live issue ad for arts education.
“It’s a very, very small sliver of the federal budget, but it’s one that has an outsized impact,” Browning said.
The night ended with Browning and Canafax inviting all the congressional members and staff who performed or spoke to gather on stage for a performance of the Beatles’ “Let It Be.” As the song wrapped up to a standing ovation, Browning and Canafax promised to do it all again next year.
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