Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 5.01 Music
Presentation #1 Title
The Many Musics within the Old-Time Music Revival: Mixed-Methods Evidence in Support of a New Revival Theory
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Preface: This paper presents evidence from mixed-methods research that outsiders involved in the old-time music revival use and experience the music in ways fundamentally different from cultural insiders. I argue for a reassessment of the motivations for outsider interest in traditional Appalachian musics and a change in research methodology. Abstract: Old-time music, one of the chief cultural exports from Appalachia, is a powerful uniting force that brings Appalachian people together with musicians from around the world. It is generally assumed that any differences between cultural insiders and outsiders are set aside when they play the “same” music with each other. But I argue for a deeper examination, using a mixed-methods approach, of the differences that exist between insiders and outsiders, how these differences influence their experience of this music, and how revivals of other traditional musics associated with Appalachia (e.g., bluegrass and Sacred Harp singing) might compare. Research on music revivals is typically humanistic and has focused primarily on extra-musical factors. For Appalachian music, this involves outsiders’ rejection of mass-media and consumerism and their attraction to the culture and lifestyle associated with the region. But this traditional theoretical approach fails to address other factors, such as affective response to music, which influence how insiders and outsiders use and experience this music. The research I present takes advantage of multiple methods, including psychometric tests, survey data, interviews, and participant-observation, to explore these other possibilities. These data suggest that outsiders have created their own distinct tradition, which ought to be conceived of as separate from, though related to, traditional old-time music. I invite the audience to consider the merits of mixed-method research, my argument for a reassessment of the motivations for outsider involvement in traditional Appalachian musics, and how to better understand the cultural dynamics within these music revivals.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Dave Wood is a musician and an alumnus of Appalachian State University’s Appalachian Studies M.A. program. Now a Ph.D. student in ethnomusicology at Brown University, his dissertation investigates the role of music perception and affective response to music in understanding the insider/outsider dynamics within the old-time Appalachian music revival.
The Many Musics within the Old-Time Music Revival: Mixed-Methods Evidence in Support of a New Revival Theory
Preface: This paper presents evidence from mixed-methods research that outsiders involved in the old-time music revival use and experience the music in ways fundamentally different from cultural insiders. I argue for a reassessment of the motivations for outsider interest in traditional Appalachian musics and a change in research methodology. Abstract: Old-time music, one of the chief cultural exports from Appalachia, is a powerful uniting force that brings Appalachian people together with musicians from around the world. It is generally assumed that any differences between cultural insiders and outsiders are set aside when they play the “same” music with each other. But I argue for a deeper examination, using a mixed-methods approach, of the differences that exist between insiders and outsiders, how these differences influence their experience of this music, and how revivals of other traditional musics associated with Appalachia (e.g., bluegrass and Sacred Harp singing) might compare. Research on music revivals is typically humanistic and has focused primarily on extra-musical factors. For Appalachian music, this involves outsiders’ rejection of mass-media and consumerism and their attraction to the culture and lifestyle associated with the region. But this traditional theoretical approach fails to address other factors, such as affective response to music, which influence how insiders and outsiders use and experience this music. The research I present takes advantage of multiple methods, including psychometric tests, survey data, interviews, and participant-observation, to explore these other possibilities. These data suggest that outsiders have created their own distinct tradition, which ought to be conceived of as separate from, though related to, traditional old-time music. I invite the audience to consider the merits of mixed-method research, my argument for a reassessment of the motivations for outsider involvement in traditional Appalachian musics, and how to better understand the cultural dynamics within these music revivals.
