Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, and Luke Bryan are among the biggest country acts of the 21st century.

Earlier this week, the New York Times released its list of the 30 greatest living American songwriters. For those who are tapped into the worlds of hip-hop and popular music, it’s a rock-solid list.

In this 250th anniversary year of the United States, pianist Lara Downes is traveling the country collecting conversations with scholars, searching for our history through songs. Her latest stop is ...