The members of Rub Wrongways Records, an independent record label from Northampton, are completing a year-long musical odyssey as the Forbes Library Musicians in Residence. Six events over the course of the year each feature live music and an informative piece related to the life of an active musician. Topics have included how to write a song, make a music video, become a rock ‘n’ roll podcaster, and more!

In 1909, the Industrial Workers of the World -- the Wobblies -- first published "The Little Red Songbook." That pamphlet of songs, which has grown and been revised over the last century, was designed to provide an accessible way to understand the Wobblies' radical approach to questions of labor and property. By setting socialist ideas to popular tunes, Wobbly songwriters made concepts like the labor theory of value into something you could hum along with.

On November 14, Ryan McGovern Quinn will discuss how music can present complex ideas concisely, and how the songs have proven malleable enough to stay relevant a century later.  Featuring performances by: Henning Ohlenbusch, Lesa Bezo, Thane Thomsen, and Ryan McGovern Quinn.

Ryan McGovern Quinn is the singer and songwriter for the Salvation Alley String Band, based in Northampton. He studied labor history while earning his master's degree in Labor Studies at the UMass Amherst Labor Center, and served as the Vice-President of UAW Local 2322 in Holyoke before pursuing a law degree at Northeastern University, where he is currently in his final year. He is a member of the Industrial Workers of the World, the organization which publishes "The Little Red Songbook."

This sixth and last event will take place on Wednesday November 14 at 7:00 PM on the second floor of Forbes Library in the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Museum.

All events are free and open to all ages.