Whose Country Music?
Genre, Identity, and Belonging in Twenty-First-Century Country Music Culture

Questions and challenges the systems of gatekeeping that have restricted participation in twenty-first century country music culture.

Paula J. Bishop (Edited by), Jada E. Watson (Edited by)

9781108837125, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 1 December 2022

280 pages
25 x 17.5 x 2.1 cm, 0.73 kg

In a period in which racism and gender inequity are at the fore of public, political, and scholarly discourse, this collection challenges systems of gatekeeping that have dictated who gets to participate in twenty-first century country music culture. Building on established scholarship, this book examines contemporary issues in country music through feminist, intersectional, and post-colonialist theories, as well as other intertextual and cultural lenses. The authors pose questions about diversity, representation, and identity as they relate to larger concepts of artist and fan communities, stylistic considerations of the genre, and modes of production from a twenty-first century perspective. Addressing and challenging the received narrative about country music culture, this collection delves into the gaps that are inherent in existing approaches that privileged biography and historiography and expands new areas of inquiry relating to contemporary country music identity and culture.

Industry: 1. Mailbox Money: Novel Liberation Strategies of a Black Female Country Songwriter Alice Randall
2. Dixie Chicked: Sony vs. The Chicks and the Regendering of Country Music in the Early Twentieth-Century Kristine M. McCusker
3. How 360° Deals Homogenized Country Music Rachel Skaggs
4. A Double-Edged Sword: Industry Data and the Construction of Country Music Narratives Jada Watson
Codes of Conduct: 5. Why Country Music Needs Latina Feminism Sophia Enriquez
6. Pistol Annies: Country Rebels with Humor Stephanie Vander Wel
7. From Bros to Gentlemen: The Problem of Consent in Contemporary Country Music Phoebe E. Hughes
8. Cowboys on a Beach: Summer Country and the Loss of Working-Class Identity Jocelyn R. Neal. Authenticity: 9. Dolly Parton's Netflix Reimagining: How Her Twenty-First Century 'Jolene' Revises Country Music's Authenticity Narrative Leigh H. Edwards
10. 'When Britney [Spears] Ruled the World': Expanding the Stylistic Boundaries of Nostalgia in Country Music Paula J. Bishop
11. Rhinestone Revivals: Repurposing the Nudie Suit for the Twenty-first Century Janet Aspley
12. Country Music Doesn't Have to Suck: Intertextuality, Community, and Bloodshot Records Nancy P. Riley. Boundary Work: 13. Playing at the Border: Navajo Country Western Music and Border Town Racism Kristina Jacobsen
14. Country-Loving Mexican Americans: Dual Patriotism and Inevitable Fandom among Mexican American Country Music Lovers Nadine Hubbs
15. Practices of Genre Surveillance in Country Music: Hearing Racial Politics in Beyoncé's and The Chicks' 'Daddy Lessons' Rebekah Hutten
16. 'We Have a Lot of Work to Do': Rhiannon Giddens and Country Music's Mixed Roots Tracey E. Laird. Epilogue: Country Music Needs a Revolution Rissi Palmer.

Subject Areas: Cultural studies [JFC], Country & Western music [AVGL], Music: styles & genres [AVG], Music [AV]