We know a lot of you are big fans of The National, and this Thursday at The Rosenbach Museum & Library, National guitarist Bryce Dessner will be performing a set of songs inspired by Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln seems to everywhere these days — from TV commercials to the thoughts of those pondering the comparisons between him and Obama — and though the man has always held a unique place in the American imagination, much of the recent activity surrounds what would have been his 200th Birthday this year. (BTW: Lincoln buffs should also check out Stealing Lincoln’s Body on the History Channel.) As it happens, the Rosenbach counts among its collections a lot of Lincoln documents and ephemera, and has also put together the 21st Century Abe project, which is where Dessner comes in. Dessner was commissioned by the project to write “a series of musical pieces for acoustic instruments that are inspired by popular music of Lincoln’s day. The short compositions are designed to be layered, remixed, and reconfigured and act as inspiration for website visitors to create their own remixes or original compositions.” And he’ll be performing those pieces live on Thursday night. Annnnnnd… we’ve got tickets. To enter to win, email ihopeiwin[at]philebrity[dot]com with “HONEST ABE” in the subject header. You’ll automatically be subscribed to the new Philebrity Reader weekly newsletter and win chances for other exclusive free stuff. In the meantime, here’s one of the tracks from Dessner’s suite. Enjoy!

This entry was posted on Monday, March 30th, 2009 at 1:59 pm.