54 (disambiguation)

Fifty-four or 54 or 54th may refer to:

John Prine

John Prine (born October 10, 1946) is an American country/folk singer-songwriter. He has been active as a composer, recording artist, and live performer since the early 1970s.

Born and raised in Maywood, Illinois, Prine learned to play the guitar at the age of 14. Subsequently serving in West Germany with the U.S. armed forces, by the late 1960s he had moved to Chicago, where he worked as a mailman, writing and singing songs as a hobby. Becoming a part of the city's folk revival, he was discovered by Kris Kristofferson, resulting in the production of Prine's self-titled debut album through Atlantic Records in 1971. After receiving critical acclaim, Prine focused on his musical career, recording three more albums for Atlantic. He then signed to Asylum Records, where he recorded an additional three albums.

In 1984 he co-founded Oh Boy Records, an independent record label with whom he would release most of his subsequent albums. After his battle with squamous cell cancer in 1998, Prine's vocals deepened into a gravel-voice, resulting in the award-winning album Fair & Square (2005).

Sessions at West 54th

Sessions at West 54th was an American television program that featured music performances, and was in some ways a pop music variation on the theme set by the long-lived Austin City Limits, though the featured musicians represented a number of musical genres. It was called Sessions at West 54th because it was taped at Sony Music Studios on West 54th Street in Manhattan. Jeb Brien and Niki Vettel, APS senior v.p. for program development, developed the series after working on APS concert specials with Suzanne Vega and Ottmar Liebert. It was produced for public television syndicator American Program Service (APS) (now American Public Television, Boston) and was carried on many public television stations. It first aired in most places on July 5, 1997, when it was included in the Saturday late-night lineup of stations covering 85% of the country. After the program ended, an edited for commercial television version also aired on the commercial Trio cable television network.

Iris DeMent

Iris Luella DeMent (born January 5, 1961) is an American singer and songwriter. DeMent's musical style includes elements of the country and folk music genres.

Early life

DeMent was born near Paragould, Arkansas, the youngest child of Pat DeMent and his second wife, Flora Mae. As the baby of the family, she was Pat DeMent's 14th child, and Flora Mae's eighth.

Iris's mother had harbored dreams of going to Nashville and starting a singing career. Although she put those plans on hold to get married, her singing voice was an inspiration and influence for her youngest daughter Iris.

She was raised in a Pentecostal household. Her family moved from Arkansas to the Los Angeles area when she was three. While growing up, she was exposed to and influenced by country and gospel music. Singing at age five as one of "the little DeMent sisters," Iris had a bad experience when she forgot her words during her first performance, which caused her to avoid performing in public for some time.

Music and career

Fort Wagner

Coordinates: 32°43′07″N 79°53′05″W / 32.71861°N 79.88472°W / 32.71861; -79.88472

Fort Wagner (also called Battery Wagner) was a beachhead fortification on Morris Island, South Carolina, that covered the southern approach to Charleston Harbor. It was the site of two American Civil War battles in the campaign known as Operations Against the Defenses of Charleston in 1863, and it is considered one of the toughest beachhead defenses constructed by the Confederate army.

Construction

Named for deceased Lt. Col. Thomas M. Wagner, Fort Wagner measured 250 by 100 yards (91 m), and spanned an area between the Atlantic on the east and an impassable swamp on the west. Its walls, composed of sand and earth, rose 30 feet (9.1 m) above the level beach and were supported by palmetto logs and sandbags. The fort's arsenal included fourteen cannons, the largest a 10-inch (250 mm) Columbiad that fired a 128-pound shell. It was a large structure capable of sheltering nearly 1,000 of the fort's 1,700-man garrison and provided substantial protection against naval shelling. The fort's land face was protected by a water-filled trench, 10 feet (3.0 m) wide and 5 feet (1.5 m) deep, surrounded by buried land mines and sharpened palmetto stakes. The fort itself was supported by defenses throughout Morris Island.