Participation Type
Poster
Presentation #1 Title
Bluegrass music, identity, and place in the 1960s-1970s
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Since the early 1960s, Bluegrass has been classified as characteristic of Appalachia and Appalachian identity by popular writers and scholars of the region. By the 1970s, Bluegrass became a global phenomenon, with internationally distributed genre-centric publications, mail-order music, and events across America. This paper will explore ways in which Bluegrass is Appalachian and how it came to be so closely linked to Appalachian identity in the 1960s-1970s. In addition to briefly reviewing the history of bluegrass with a focus on geography and identity, this poster will present original research on primary sources. I provide a content analysis of two periodicals, Bluegrass Unlimited and Muleskinner News, and map events listed in the publications. I expect to find that Bluegrass—including music performed by artists considered “of” or “in” Appalachia—was enjoyed all across the United States and overseas. This research expands our notions of the Bluegrass genre and queries its associations with regional identity.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Alex Combates received her in B.A. in Cultural Anthropology with a minor in Religious Studies from West Virginia University (Morgantown, WV) in 2016. She recently her Master’s in Material Culture and Public Humanities upon accepting a Graduate Teaching Assistantship through the Department of Religion & Culture at Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Blacksburg, VA) in August 2018.
Bluegrass music, identity, and place in the 1960s-1970s
Since the early 1960s, Bluegrass has been classified as characteristic of Appalachia and Appalachian identity by popular writers and scholars of the region. By the 1970s, Bluegrass became a global phenomenon, with internationally distributed genre-centric publications, mail-order music, and events across America. This paper will explore ways in which Bluegrass is Appalachian and how it came to be so closely linked to Appalachian identity in the 1960s-1970s. In addition to briefly reviewing the history of bluegrass with a focus on geography and identity, this poster will present original research on primary sources. I provide a content analysis of two periodicals, Bluegrass Unlimited and Muleskinner News, and map events listed in the publications. I expect to find that Bluegrass—including music performed by artists considered “of” or “in” Appalachia—was enjoyed all across the United States and overseas. This research expands our notions of the Bluegrass genre and queries its associations with regional identity.
