Prostitution in the U.S. between 1840-1917 was big business. Tens of thousands of brothels, concert saloons, and dance halls across the nation—all common sites for prostitution—featured regular, full-time professional music-making for dancing, and thus provided a well-paid livelihood for working musicians. This project explores the nexus between prostitution, music-making, dance, sexuality, an underground cultural economy, and the development of musical foundations upon which an extraordinarily vital 20th-century American popular music was built.

Sponsored by the American Music Institute and U-M Gershwin Initiative.