Music and the Global American South: UNC Conference Explores the Impact of Traditional Music

Feb. 5, 2013 - PRLog -- Music and the globalization of the American South will be the topic of a two-day conference at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on February 8 and 9. The conference, titled Southern Sounds/Out of Bounds: Music and the Global American South, will explore culture, values and practices surrounding southern music through a variety of free programming. It is hosted by the Center for Global Initiatives and the Center for the Study of the American South, in collaboration with Carolina Performing Arts.

The conference events include a conversation with musicians Abigail Washburn and Wu Fei on their blend of Appalachian folk tunes with Chinese traditional music, and a keynote address by Karl Hagstrom Miller on the future of music. The weekend also features concerts by the Carolina Chocolate Drops and Vusi Mahlasela on Friday night, and Abigail Washburn and Kai Welch with Wu Fei on Saturday evening. The concerts are paid events with tickets available through the Memorial Hall Box Office.

“We’re very excited to partner with the centers for Global Initiatives and the Study of the American South to present these concerts that combine American roots and world music,” said Joe Florence, marketing manager at Carolina Performing Arts. “While ‘traditional’ American music might immediately make someone think of bluegrass or folk, it’s interesting to explore what ‘roots’ and ‘traditional’ might mean to other cultures. We’re thrilled to present a blending of these in two concerts this weekend.”  

This year’s Global American South Conference will bring together graduate students, faculty, scholars and the general public to share current research on the culture, meaning and practices surrounding music in and from the American South. The conference is part of an ongoing exploration of the globalization of the Southern United States, a field of study that UNC-Chapel Hill has been pursuing for more than a decade. Each year the conference focuses on a different theme to reveal the interplay of the global and the local, the impacts of globalization on the region and the often surprising ways that Southern culture and experience influence distant communities and regions.  

The conference is free with registration. For more information, including a full list of programming, please visit cgi.unc.edu/gas. For tickets to Carolina Chocolate Drops and Vusi Mahlasela on Friday evening or Abigail Washburn and Kai Welch with Wu Fei on Saturday evening, please visit www.carolinaperformingarts.org or call 919-843-3333.