WASHINGTON — Texas Rep. Michael McCaul was asked in 2014 at a South By Southwest panel about the power of music to change the world.
“I think rock and roll can be a very effective weapon and tool against oppression,” McCaul, a Republican, said at the time, “because that’s what this country is all about.”
The Recording Academy’s Acting Chief Advocacy & Public Policy Officer Todd Dupler says those discussions continued and culminated in this year’s bill to bolster the State Department’s music-related exchange programs.
The McCaul-backed proposal was included in the annual defense policy legislation approved as Congress wrapped up its 2022 session.
Dupler noted the State Department already has a bureau dedicated to its existing cultural exchange programs.
“But we really wanted to do something to amplify the work that they do specifically around music exchange programs and programs that are intended to further peace building efforts, conflict resolution and mutual understanding,” Dupler said. “And we just believe really strongly that music can be that bridge.”
The new law is intended to push the State Department to foster public-private partnerships for those music-related exchanges. Think an award to honor artists who advance peace abroad and additional mentoring and networking opportunities for international up-and-comers.
The law requires the State Department to develop and report back to Congress a strategy for achieving progress in those areas.
Musicians at all levels could be part of the program, from global superstars like Bono to those who have far fewer resources to reach a world audience. And the hope is more artists from other countries could come experience American culture and take it back home.
“Music helps build relationships but it can also call attention to issues and educate people on things that they may not be paying attention to,” Dupler said.
He pointed to this year’s Grammys with its inclusion of a message from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a performance by Ukraine musicians. He also cited the plight of young Afghans evacuated so they could continue their music instruction abroad in the face of a Taliban crackdown.
“Music really helps shine a light in places that really need that light,” he said.
Dupler’s family moved to Houston when he was in high school and he graduated from Baylor University before heading to Washington, D.C., where he worked for several Texas Republican lawmakers: Rep. Kevin Brady and former Rep. Lamar Smith, as well as former Sen. Phil Gramm.
“No matter what your political persuasion is, you have a favorite song, you have an artist or music that’s really meaningful to you,” Dupler said. “That’s how we’re able to get bills like this passed in a Congress that is so polarized and fractured, where so little gets done.”
McCaul has talked about how he started playing guitar himself in high school and still enjoys it today, mostly as a form of meditation. He says he likes walking from one Austin venue to another in his district, and he identifies Kacey Musgraves and Patty Griffin as a couple of his favorite artists.
McCaul is expected to take over as chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee in the incoming Congress.
He has touted the use of music as “soft power” and compared it to drone strikes when it comes to defeating toxic ideologies.
“In both good times and bad, music has encouraged, inspired, and united people of all backgrounds and cultures; that’s why they call it the universal language,” McCaul said in a statement. “The PEACE Through Music Diplomacy Act will leverage that unique power of music to advance U.S. foreign policy goals.”
Dupler said McCaul makes for an effective champion of the cause in part because of his senior position on the Foreign Affairs Committee, but also his personal connections to music.
“He represents the live music capital of the world,” Dupler said.
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