The 22nd annual International Country Music Conference, which attracts the top scholars in country music from all over the world, will be held May 26-28 at Belmont University. Conference events will include the awarding of the annual Belmont Book Award, given to the best book on country music in the past year, as well as a special panel discussion to celebrate and analyze the 40th anniversary of the publication of the landmark “Hillbilly Issue” of the Journal of American Folklore. That issue included several articles by different authors that helped legitimize country music scholarship and influence scholars working in the field today. Archie Green, who wrote one of those articles, will be a part of the panel discussion.
British author Tony Russell, author of Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921-1942, published by Oxford University Press, will be honored with the Belmont Book Award, for the “Best Book on Country Music” for 2004. His definitive, landmark book, chronicles all of the recordings of country music before World War II. In addition, Russell will also receive the “Lifetime Achievement” award for his achievements linking books and country music, and the Charlie Lamb Award for Excellence in Journalism in the “Lifetime Career” category. Bluegrass writer Jon Weisberger will receive the Charlie Lamb award for contemporary journalism.
The ICMC attendees and speakers represent a wide variety of country music scholarship. Those attending the conference this year have authored more than 50 books on country music. Registration fee for the ICMC is $80. The conference will be held in the Board Room of the Massey Business Center.
The International Country Music Conference begins Thursday evening (May 26) with a keynote by Bob Cox spotlighting the life of fiddler Charlie Bowman.
Special Media Contact for the International Country Music Conference:
Dr. Don Cusic, Professor of Music Business, 615-460-5438, or cusicd@mail.belmont.edu.
Here is a complete schedule of events for the International Country Music Conference Schedule:
Thursday May 26:
6:30 p.m.: Pickin’ & Social Hour
7:30 p.m.: KEYNOTE: Bob Cox: “The Story of Fiddlin’ Charlie Bowman and His Upper East Tennessee Musical Family”
Friday May 27:
8-8:30 a.m.: Coffee and Donuts
8:30-9:30 a.m.: Ronnie Pugh: “Political Balladry in Country Music” Patrick Huber: “Inventing Hillbilly Music: Record Catalog and Advertising Imagery, 1922-1929”
9:45-10:45 a.m.: Tracy Laird: “Austin City Limits: Change and Continuity in U.S. Southern Music”
Charles K. Wolfe: “Judge Hay’s Lost Novel”
11 a.m.: The 1965 “Hillbilly Issue” of the Journal of American Folklore:b40th Anniversary Retrospective and Prospective: Ronnie Pugh, Moderator; Archie Green, Erika Brady, Judith McCulloh, Tony Russell, Charles K. Wolfe
12:30 p.m.: AWARDS LUNCH: Book of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Award, Charlie Lamb Excellence in Country Music Journalism Award: Career Honoree: Tony Russell; Contemporary: Jon
Weisberger
2-3 p.m. Kenji Tanaka: “Will the Circle of Country Lyrics Be Unbroken?”
Ted Olson: “The Roots and Branches of a Country Music Hit: Folk, Popular, and High Cultural Influences on the Charlie
Daniels Band’s ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia’, and the
Song’s Influence on American Culture.”
3:15-4:15 p.m.: Linda Daniel: “Country Music in Newfoundland”
Jocelyn Neal: “Country Music, Buyer’s Choice, and the
Formulae We Don’t Hear”
Sat: May 28:
8-8:30 a.m.: Coffee and Donuts
8:30-9:30 a.m.: David Pruett: “Music Without Prejudice: MuzikMafia and Nashville’s Emerging Underground Interculture”
Erica Gregory: “Reaching Out From the Ryman: The Public Relations Efforts of the Grand Ole Opry, 1943-1974”
9:45-10:45 a.m.: Travis Stimeling: “Going Home with the Armadillo: The Improbable Rise of the Cosmic Cowboy”
Cristopher Scott: “Right in From the Hills and Full o’ Shine: The Significance of Comedy in Country Music Entertainment”
11 a.m.-12 noon: Don Cusic: “The History of Curb Records”
Danny Allen: Burchland: The Development of a Bluegrass Orchestral Work”
12-1 p.m.: LUNCH: Nolan Porterfield introduces Tony Russell: “Reflections on My Life in Country Music Research”
1:30-3 p.m.: Ryan Brasseaux: “Jole Blon Gone Wild: The Secret Sex Life of the Cajun Venus”
Amy Corin: “Gender and Identity Politics in the Margins of Country Music: The Lesbian and Gay Country Music Association and Shadow Dancing as Engendered Political Movement(s)”
Murphy Henry: “Bessie Lee Mauldin: The Carolina Songbird”
3:15-4:15 p.m.: Bill Brown and Mike Fleming: “Final Resting Places: Grave Markers of Bluegrass and Country Stars”
James Akenson: “The Teaching Standards Movement and
Teaching About Country Music in the K-12 Curriculum”
