The Flood Behind Bessie Smith’s “Back-Water Blues”
The Mississippi River flood that Smith allegedly memorialized happened weeks after she'd written and released her song. Where was the real “Back Water”?
Keeping Scores: Unearthing the Works of Black Women Composers
Black women composers have been active in the US since at least the mid-nineteenth century, yet they’re largely omitted from scholarship on women musicians.
Good Times With Bad Music
We've all got our tastes, but can anyone really define what makes music “good” or “bad”?
The Scholars Charting Black Music’s Timeline: Douglas Henry Daniels & Paul Austerlitz
Daniels and Austerlitz tell the story of jazz, from its origins in the blues, gospel, and funk to its impact on music around the world.
Music and Gender in Medieval Islamic Court
As Islam spread across the Arabian peninsula and the Mesopotamian region, it changed the relationship between gender and musicianship.
Far From Folsom Prison: More to Music Inside
Johnny Cash wasn't the only superstar to play in prisons. Music, initially allowed as worship, came to be seen as a rockin' tool of rehabilitation.
This Revolution Will Be Amplified
From Lil Nas X to Valerie June to Darius Rucker, Black musicians are staking their claim in country music. Francesca T. Royster explains.
Topsy-Turvy: Children in Adult Roles
The number of children acting like adults on stage reflects how conflicted nineteenth-century Anglo-Americans were about the definition of childhood.
Happy Birthday, Well-Tempered Clavier
Bach’s most influential pedagogical work turns 300 this year. But what’s so “well-tempered” about this clavier, and what’s a “clavier,” anyway?
Loretta Lynn: More than a Great Songwriter
A spokeswoman for white, rural, working-class women, Loretta Lynn used music to articulate the fears, dreams, and anger of women living in a patriarchal society.