Births, Stages, Declines, Revivals
2010 Conference of the International Association
for the Study of Popular Music ? U.S. Branch
New Orleans, Louisiana, April 9-11
New Orleans has long been known as the
?birthplace of jazz;? more recently, it has
become a signifier for ruin. The chaos wrought
by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 signaled a shocking
sense of loss in the music world: some musicians
lost their lives and many lost their
livelihoods; the city?s ubiquitous choirs,
marching bands, and parades were disrupted and
displaced. Residents of New Orleans,
particularly the working poor, were evacuated
and have yet to permanently return. And yet, at
the same time, both remaining and former
residents have fought to hold on to and even
revive their cherished culture. Performers,
bands, and fans have commuted from their
temporary homes, worked to replenish
instruments, continued the city?s parades and
festivals, and cultivated the spirit of music
for which the city is so well-known. These
circumstances in New Orleans raise broader
issues of birth and death, change and endurance,
as music is practiced by people in cities and regions across the world:
What is the appeal, use, or meaning of thinking about musical origins?
How can we best understand the various ?births?
of different genres of music and their
relationships to place, culture, or individual agency?
What are the nature and meanings of ?classic? music?
How have "roots" functioned as a metaphor in American music criticism?
In what ways can we connect the life cycles of
music scenes, genres, and styles to that of individuals, cultures, and places?
How do musicians and listeners mark life
passages and stages--birth, youth, aging, death--through music?
How do instances of musical sound (a cracking
voice, varying rhythms, instrumental textures)
signify the aging body or changing environments?
How can we account for the decline, waning, or
even ?deaths? of different musics?
What is the significance of beginnings and endings in songs?
How can we best talk about alleged phenomena
like ?gray-out? or ?homogenization? in music?
What is the nature of ?unfinished? work in different music genres?
How, exactly, do remixing, rereleasing, or
remastering revive songs and albums?
What can we learn from efforts to preserve music
through grant programs, festivals, ?legacy? box sets, and other methods?
We invite proposals that explore these issues in
New Orleans or other localities; we are also
open to proposals that address other current
topics of research and debate in the study of
popular music, broadly defined. Proposals for
individual papers should consist of a 300-word
abstract and a 1-page CV of the author. Panel,
roundtable, and other group proposals should
consist of a 300-word summary of the panel
topic, in addition to abstracts and CVs for each
of the participants. For each proposal, please
send a cover message, with the components
attached as Microsoft Word or Rich Text
documents, to
<<mailto:(iaspm2010 /at/ gmail.com)>(iaspm2010 /at/ gmail.com)>.
The deadline is December 1, 2009. Questions
about proposals may be sent to the Program
Chair, Daniel Cavicchi, at
<<mailto:(dcavicch /at/ risd.edu)>(dcavicch /at/ risd.edu)> or
to any of the 2010 Program Committee members:
Ken Habib (Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo), Kwame
Harrison (Virginia Tech), Diane Pecknold
(University of Louisville), Devon Powers (Drexel
University), or Eric Weisbard (University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa).
The conference in New Orleans will take place
April 9-11, coinciding with the city?s French
Quarter Festival. The 2010 Program Committee and
the Arrangements Committee hope to take full
advantage of the unique opportunities present in
the city. All accepted presenters must be
IASPM-US members; to join the Association, go
to: < <http://www.iaspm-us.net/>http://www.iaspm-us.net/>
--
Daniel Cavicchi
Associate Professor of American Studies
Coordinator of Concentration in History, Philosophy, & Social Sciences
Rhode Island School of Design
<mailto:(dcavicch /at/ risd.edu)>(dcavicch /at/ risd.edu)
(401) 454-6799
http://departments.risd.edu/hpss/Cavicchi.html
