When:
February 26, 2018 all-day
2018-02-26T00:00:00-06:00
2018-02-27T00:00:00-06:00
Where:
University of Mississippi
Contact:
Becca Walton

2018 SOUTHERN MUSIC SYMPOSIUM – FEBRUARY 26

Music from the American South has made an indisputable impact on culture and politics in the U.S. and around the world.  But who are the South’s most prominent and influential voices today?  How are they creating the “southern” in their sounds and speaking to broader matters of national and international importance?  In what ways do they build on the sounds of the past or provide the soundtrack for our common and divided present?

The Southern Music Symposium will address such questions and more.  Hosted by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, the symposium will highlight musicians and feature presentations by prominent and emerging scholars of southern music. Dr. Randall J. Stephens (Reader and Associate Professor of History and American Studies, Northumbria University) will give a keynote address on religion and rock n’ roll. Scholars Dr. Zandria Robinson of Rhodes College and Dr. Charles Hughes of Rhodes College will participate in a roundtable discussion, and UM students will present their research on southern music and culture.

The symposium will take place in the Overby Center for Journalism and Politics on the UM campus on Monday, February 26. That evening, Proud Larry’s in downtown Oxford will host a showcase concert featuring punk rocker Lee Bains III, rapper Marco Pave, and composer and instrumentalist Wu Fei. The musicians will also participate in panel discussions during the symposium. 

Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics, 555 Grove Loop, University of Mississippi

1:00 p.m. 
Welcome and Symposium Introduction by Brian Foster and Darren Grem
Panel for Student Research and Q&A
“Looking at the Blues: Dressing Up Versus Dressing Down”
Keerthi Chandrashekar

“Image is One Thing: Elvis as an Image of Mississippi”
Liam Nieman

“The Same Old Blues Crap: Fat Possum Records’ Matthew Johnson and How White Masculinity Continues to Shape the Blues”
Jacqueline Sahagian

2:30 p.m.
Scholars Roundtable with Zandria Robinson and Charles Hughes
Moderated by Brian Foster

4:00 p.m. 
Musicians Panel with Lee Bains III, Wu Fei, and Marco Pavé
Moderated by Darren Grem

5:30 p.m.
“‘Christian rock musicians come from pentecostal ranks!’ Rock ’n’ Roll and
Conservative Christianity in Modern America.”
Keynote Lecture by Randall Stephens

Proud Larry’s, 211 S. Lamar Blvd, Oxford, Mississippi
8:00 p.m. 
Showcase with Lee Bains III, Wu Fei, and Marco Pavé