Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 9.06 Literature, Poetry, and Song
Presentation #1 Title
Catching the World's Ear: Interpreting Appalachian Music for a Global Audience
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
“Catching the World’s Ear: Interpreting Appalachian Music for a Global Audience” In this presentation given at the 2014 Appalachian Studies Association conference, I’ll discuss the various approaches people (scholars, record producers) have taken historically and more recently when documenting and interpreting the heritage of Appalachian music. I’ll particularly focus on the efforts to showcase and explain Appalachian music to audiences outside the United States. My hunch is that documentary releases prepared especially for global audiences have reflected a very different sense of aesthetics and have taken a markedly different interpretive approach than documentary releases expressly prepared for American audiences. Releases intended for a global audience have tended not only to accentuate sounds and music-related stories overlooked or marginalized domestically, but such internationally-targeted releases have often taken a more holistic approach to interpreting music and music culture (often achieved through the inclusion of album notes containing extensive contextualized information). My presentation will expose biases (stereotyping, elitism, cultural prejudice, romanticized attitudes) embedded, whether consciously or unconsciously, within interpretations of Appalachia’s regional music intended strictly for American audiences.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Ted Olson is the author or editor of numerous books on Appalachian culture. He has also produced several documentary albums of Appalachian music, and has been nominated for three Grammy Awards for his work as a music historian.
Catching the World's Ear: Interpreting Appalachian Music for a Global Audience
Harris Hall 446
“Catching the World’s Ear: Interpreting Appalachian Music for a Global Audience” In this presentation given at the 2014 Appalachian Studies Association conference, I’ll discuss the various approaches people (scholars, record producers) have taken historically and more recently when documenting and interpreting the heritage of Appalachian music. I’ll particularly focus on the efforts to showcase and explain Appalachian music to audiences outside the United States. My hunch is that documentary releases prepared especially for global audiences have reflected a very different sense of aesthetics and have taken a markedly different interpretive approach than documentary releases expressly prepared for American audiences. Releases intended for a global audience have tended not only to accentuate sounds and music-related stories overlooked or marginalized domestically, but such internationally-targeted releases have often taken a more holistic approach to interpreting music and music culture (often achieved through the inclusion of album notes containing extensive contextualized information). My presentation will expose biases (stereotyping, elitism, cultural prejudice, romanticized attitudes) embedded, whether consciously or unconsciously, within interpretations of Appalachia’s regional music intended strictly for American audiences.
