A half-full Fairchild Theater shook Tuesday with the rhythms of songs that weren't always accepted in American culture.

The concert, titled "Freedom Sings," highlighted first-amendment issues through music.

"Freedom energizes the nation," said Ken Paulson, the evening's narrator and executive director of the First Amendment Center, which hosted the event. "And when you add guitars and the voices of a free people, freedom sings."

The First Amendment orchestra presented music from civil rights anthems to modern country and rap. The ensemble gave each song the attention it didn't receive when it was first introduced because of government censorship or cultural backlash.

The band was made up of two-time Grammy Award-winner Ashley Cleveland, actress and singer Shonka Dukureh, Grammy Award-winning songwriter Don Henry, Grammy-winner Craig Krampf, Bill Lloyd of former country duo Foster and Lloyd, singer and songwriter Jason White and keyboardist Joseph Wooten of the Steve MIller Band.

"I'm definitely happy I didn't let my friend talk me into leaving," spectator Jayson Chelf said.

The show began with the Dixie Chicks song "Travelin' Soldier" and the controversy surrounding lead singer Natalie Maines' negative comment about President Bush while on tour in London.

Audience members were asked for their opinions on the comment and the first amendment's implications.

"I was disappointed with the audience participation," said Jesse Burns, who also viewed the show. "There could have been more."

Music from the civil rights era followed with "Strange Fruit" by Billie Holliday, and songs by black artists re-recorded by white singers for mainstream culture.

"I learned a lot about the older stuff," Chelf said. "Stuff like that, I had no knowledge of."

Chelf and Burns said they came looking for the 1960s, Vietnam-era music, such as Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" and, "With a Little Help From My Friends."

"I really liked the Beatles and John Lennon medleys," Burns said. The band merged seamlessly from one song believed to have drug references to another.

"Short People" by Randy Newman was the focus of a banning bill in one state's legislature because the representative didn't recognize it's satirical nature and deemed it hate speech, according to Paulson.

"I'm very pro-freedom of speech," Burns said. "A lot of people don't even think about it that much."

Contemporary songs have also had cultural backlash, Paulson said, insisting that the one generation's objectionable music becomes the next's inoffensive background music, as the band played one possibility from rapper Eminem.

"The acoustic version of 'Slim Shady' was definitely better than the original," Chelf said.

James Spaniolo, dean of the College of Communication Arts and Sciences, said the audience was very diverse.

"There was a very nice cross-section in the audience," he said.

And he liked the show, too.

"It was a great concert, great entertainment," he said. "And good education about censorship and first amendment issues."