An ambitious new musical project titled This is My America attempts to tell the story of America through songs and narration, from the times before European settlers arrived to the present day.

I told the writers and performers this is not about me, this is not about you. This is about a place called America.

It would have been very easy for a project like this to have been filled with nothing but variations of "America the Beautiful" and "The Star Spangled Banner," uber-patriotic songs about the beauty and the majesty of the United States. Instead, its songs and narrations have depth. They reflect the high and low points of America’s history as its people struggle and squabble and sacrifice in their attempts to live up to the Constitution’s lofty ideals.

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Listening to this three-CD set is like watching an epic motion picture. It begins will dramatic, swelling music by the Grammy-winning Nashville Symphony Orchestra and a narration about the native people: in movie terms, an establishing shot encompassing a wide view. As the stories continue, Europeans settle the land and revolt against the English king. The songs set in the Revolutionary War are up-tempo, capturing the fervor of those times.

With freedom won, Americans settle down to the business of growing their country, and the songs become more personal and introspective, close-up views of individuals at the Alamo, in the Civil War, the Westward Expansion, industrialization, the World Wars, the Depression, and continuing through "A Soldier’s Wife," a heart-wrenching anthem to those at home today who "live and die by the evening news," as songwriter Roxie Dean expressed it.

Suddenly, the mood changes as the "camera" pulls back for long views again, beginning with "This Is My America." Sung by A Children’s Choir, it captures the feeling of patriotic programs staged in grade schools during the 1950s. The final two songs and narration continue in wide view, encompassing America as a shared experience rather than a collection of individuals. The project began with an epic sound and ends with a flag-waving anthem, "Wave On, Old Glory, Wave On," performed by award-winning vocalist Billy Dean, backed up by the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and the world-renowned Fisk Jubilee Singers.

This is My America was produced by Douglas Hutton, president of King Motion Picture Corporation, who has produced 500 television programs, including 120 on Canadian history specials and five heritage music recordings as well as This Living World, a nature series for television, and Cowboys of the Americas for the Disney Channel. He originally conceived the project 30 years ago, during America’s bicentennial. In 2008, he decided the time had come to make it a reality.

On January 21, 2009, he engaged in an exclusive interview with History Net about this undertaking. When a songwriter is mentioned, the titles of songs he or she wrote for the project appear in parentheses.  You can hear samples of the songs on This is My America Web site. To read what some of the songwriters, performers and others who were involved have to say, click here.

HistoryNet.com: What made a Canadian want to create a musical history of the United States?

Douglas Hutton: I think because of my experiences in America. I was married in Las Vegas 43 years ago, (1966) and I’m still with her. I went to Nashville as an aspiring songwriter. Later, I began working in film and television. I’ve produced 25 major specials with American talent like Kris Kristofferson, Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon and many others. I thought I would do something that is really good, really special about the U.S. that could also reflect well on Canada.

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