RISE!  The Story of Abraham Lincoln

Update - August 12, 2026: This is an update page for the musical I am working on titled ‘Rise!’ The play is the story of Abraham Lincoln. It currently has 25 songs (3 are together one of the links below) and will be in two acts - one discovering Lincoln before the Civil War and one that is set during the Civil War.

I'm extremely excited to announce that award-winning director Anna Doepp has agreed to direct my staged reading! We are still searching for the specific date and venue but it will be in the first half of 2027 in the Seattle area. This will be a huge step in the development!

The script as well as lyrics and even songs continue to undergo some modest revisions but will likely settle to ‘pencils down’ status late this year.

All of the songs have a formal Piano/Vocal score that can be used for rehearsals. There will be some modest revisions in the next few months as the ‘pencils down’ version of the script is merged with the score.  

Demos of songs from the show are posted below. These vary in quality but give a pretty good idea of the feel of the show. If you want to listen to the songs that have the best production value right now, try The Lost Speech/Rise!, Billy's Barbershop, or Brother Abraham.

Disclosure Note: All songs/lyrics/script have been written by myself (organically), but as of today 4 of the 25 demos below use a ‘Cover’ version done using Suno in order to give a better idea of what the song should sound like if fully orchestrated. (I have the original demos of these elsewhere if interested. I am working on getting the organic demos into shape for these songs as well. The current demos are a little rough on these particular songs.) The reason for this approach is to help guide/provide thoughts for the orchestration process when that stage arrives (probably in the second half of 2027/early 2028).

It has now been about 19 months in the development process and I feel like a good deal of progress has happened and is ongoing. I will post updates on show progress and any new demos on this page.  If you would like a short deck (9 pages) or even the script as it stands, please contact me at ajaske@aol.com. If you would like to be involved with the show, especially if you are a music director or an actor who does musicals, please contact me as well.
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  1. 1
    Billy's Barbershop 2:42
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  2. 2
    Get to Work! 3:25
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  3. 3
    Headin Out In Style 4:07
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  4. 4
    I Just Wanna Be Free 1:40
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  5. 5
    Wrasslin Man 2:39
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  6. 6
    Springfield Bound 2:34
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  7. 7
    Smart 3:26
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  8. 8
    The Lost Speech - Rise! 3:35
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  9. 9
    The People's Cry (1858) 3:24
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  10. 10
    Grow That Beard! 3:17
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  11. 11
    Farewell Springfield/Created Equal/Secession 9:21
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  12. 12
    Save the Union 2:58
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  13. 13
    Bloody Mess 3:51
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  14. 14
    The General Who Won't Attack 1:53
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  15. 15
    If There Were Something I Could Do 2:33
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  16. 16
    Emancipation Proclamation 2:31
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  17. 17
    Go and Get This Thing Done 3:33
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  18. 18
    Time Is On Our Side 2:27
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  19. 19
    Atlanta Is Ours 3:24
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  20. 20
    With Malice Toward None 3:12
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