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June 22, 2021

Happy Black Music Month: A Recommended Reading List

Fresh off the heels of our JuneTeenth reading lists (Part One and Part Two) , I’m back with another celebration of black culture; Black Music Month. “Created by President Jimmy Carter in 1979, this month celebrates the African American musical influences that comprise an essential part of our nation’s treasured cultural heritage.” Black people have had a hand in basically… Continue Reading Happy Black Music Month: A Recommended Reading List

Categories African American Studies/American Studies/Biography / Autobiography/Music
June 18, 2021

Happy (early) Juneteenth! A Reading List, Part Two

Happy early JuneTeenth again! I’m back with part two of the recommended reading list in celebration of JuneTeenth, “the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.” Part one of the recommended reading list focused on the experiences of black American slaves whose labor helped shape the fabric of America. Part two of the reading… Continue Reading Happy (early) Juneteenth! A Reading List, Part Two

Categories African American Studies/Environmental Studies/Gender Studies/Literature/Music/Political Science/Politics/Sociology/Southern Studies/Women's Studies
June 10, 2021

UNC Press authors Regina N. Bradley & Imani Perry speak at IASPM’s Popular Music Books in Process Series

In April, author of Chronicling Stankonia: The Rise of the Hip-Hop South Regina Bradley and Imani Perry, author of May We Forever Stand: A History of the Black National Anthem (available in paperback October 2021), spoke during one of the sessions for IASPM’s Popular Music Books in Process Series. The series started in June 2020 and “offer writers and scholars… Continue Reading UNC Press authors Regina N. Bradley & Imani Perry speak at IASPM’s Popular Music Books in Process Series

Categories African American Studies/American Studies/Literature/Music
April 28, 2021

Happy National Guitar Month!

A little late to the party, but we would like to wish a happy national guitar month to all of you rockstar readers. We’ve created this reading list of some of our favorite guitar-related titles to hopefully inspire your next riff. STONE FREE: JIMI HENDRIX IN LONDON, SEPTEMBER 1966 – JUNE 1967 BY JAS OBRECHT A compelling portrait of rock’s… Continue Reading Happy National Guitar Month!

Categories African American Studies/American Studies/Biography / Autobiography/Music/Native Amer./Indigenous Studies
March 16, 2021

Black and White and the Blues: Who profits from a cultural tradition?

Excerpt from Princeton Alumni Weekly‘s March 2021 issue is reblogged below with permission. By Adam Gussow, author of Whose Blues? Facing Up to Race and the Future of the Music Speaking very broadly, people who have emotional investments in the blues — people who like, play, think about, talk about, and identify themselves with the blues — have two diametrically… Continue Reading Black and White and the Blues: Who profits from a cultural tradition?

Categories African American History/Music
February 24, 2021

Letting the Stank Out: OutKast and the Rise of the Hip-Hop South

The following excerpt is taken from the introduction to Regina Bradley’s Chronicling Stankonia: The Rise of the Hip-Hop South While I do not suggest that hip-hop’s presence in the South is the sole marker of its contemporary existence, I do suggest that hip-hop is integral to updating the framework for reading the South’s modernity. Although southern hip-hop existed before OutKast,… Continue Reading Letting the Stank Out: OutKast and the Rise of the Hip-Hop South

Categories African American Studies/Music/UNC Press News
February 22, 2021

Five Weekly Reads for Black History Month: New and Noteworthy

Save 40% on all UNC Press books with discount code 01DAH40. Visit the sale page to browse more recommended titles in African American History, or view our full list of books in African American Studies. Chronicling Stankonia: The Rise of the Hip-Hop Southby Regina N. Bradley This vibrant book pulses with the beats of a new American South, probing the ways music,… Continue Reading Five Weekly Reads for Black History Month: New and Noteworthy

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American History/Civil War/Music/Politics/Southern Studies/UNC Press News
October 19, 2020

Author Interview: David Menconi on Step It Up and Go

In this Q&A, author David Menconi discusses his new book Step It Up and Go: The Story of North Carolina Popular Music, from Blind Boy Fuller and Doc Watson to Nina Simone and Superchunk, out today from UNC Press. This book is a love letter to the artists, scenes, and sounds defining North Carolina’s extraordinary contributions to American popular music.… Continue Reading Author Interview: David Menconi on Step It Up and Go

Categories American History/Author blog entry/Guest Bloggers/History/Interviews/Music/North Carolina/UNC Press Authors/UNC Press News
April 3, 2020

Grace Elizabeth Hale: Happy Birthday, R.E.M.

Today we welcome a guest post from Grace Elizabeth Hale, author of Cool Town: How Athens, Georgia, Launched Alternative Music and Changed American Culture, out now from the UNC Press Ferris & Ferris Books imprint. In the summer of 1978, the B-52’s conquered the New York underground. A year later, the band’s self-titled debut album burst onto the Billboard charts,… Continue Reading Grace Elizabeth Hale: Happy Birthday, R.E.M.

Categories American Studies/Author blog entry/Guest Bloggers/Music/Southern Studies/UNC Press Authors/UNC Press News
September 20, 2019

Author Interview: Charles L. Hughes on “Country Music: A Film by Ken Burns”

Charles L. Hughes, author of Country Soul: Making Music and Making Race in the American South, weighs in on Ken Burns’ new documentary Country Music as well as past and present manifestations of “the central racial paradox at the heart of country music.” In the sound of the 1960s and 1970s, nothing symbolized the rift between black and white America… Continue Reading Author Interview: Charles L. Hughes on “Country Music: A Film by Ken Burns”

Categories African American Studies/American Studies/Cultural Studies/Music/UNC Press Authors/UNC Press News
May 2, 2019

UNC Press partners with the Music Maker Foundation

UNC Press is proud to be partnering with the Music Maker Relief Foundation, a local North Carolina non-profit that was founded to protect the soul of America’s music by directly supporting traditional blues, gospel, jazz and folk musicians, so their voices will not be silenced by poverty and time. Music Maker ensures that our cultural heritage is passed on to… Continue Reading UNC Press partners with the Music Maker Foundation

Categories Music/UNC Press News
February 8, 2019

David Gilbert: James Reese Europe at the Grammys

Today we welcome a guest post from David Gilbert, author of The Product of Our Souls:  The Product of Our Souls: Ragtime, Race, and the Birth of the Manhattan Musical Marketplace. The CD companion to the book came out in the summer of 2018 and his liner note essay has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Album Notes… Continue Reading David Gilbert: James Reese Europe at the Grammys

Categories African American Studies/Awards/Music/UNC Press Authors/UNC Press News
February 6, 2019

David Gilbert: Pre-war Ragtime, From UNC Press to the Grammys

We are very proud that two UNC Press authors are nominated for Grammy Awards this year. William Ferris (@WRFerris), noted folklorist who has written and contributed to several publications from UNC Press on Southern history, the oral tradition, and the blues, is nominated for Best Historical Album for “Voices of Mississippi” on @dusttodigital. David Gilbert is nominated for Best Album… Continue Reading David Gilbert: Pre-war Ragtime, From UNC Press to the Grammys

Categories African American Studies/Author blog entry/Awards/Music/UNC Press Authors/UNC Press News
July 12, 2018

Nadine Cohodas: Reconstructing Nina Simone’s Earliest Days

Today we welcome a guest post from Nadine Cohodas, author of Princess Noire: The Tumultuous Reign of Nina Simone, available in paperback from UNC Press. Born Eunice Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina, Nina Simone (1933-2003) began her musical life playing classical piano. A child prodigy, she wanted a career on the concert stage, but when the Curtis Institute of Music… Continue Reading Nadine Cohodas: Reconstructing Nina Simone’s Earliest Days

Categories African American Studies/Author blog entry/Music/UNC Press News/Women's Studies
October 19, 2017

Author Interview: Adam Gussow, Beyond the Crossroads

  Today, UNC Press Publicity Director Gina Mahalek talks with Adam Gussow, author of Beyond the Crossroads: The Devil and the Blues Tradition, about Sterling Magee, the blues tradition and folklore in the American South, and more. You can also read Adam’s Book Notes post over at the Largehearted Boy blog, where he also shares a cool Spotify playlist of classic… Continue Reading Author Interview: Adam Gussow, Beyond the Crossroads

Categories African American Studies/folklore/Interviews/Music/Religion/Southern Studies
October 6, 2017

Anthony Chaney: The Royal Scam

Today, we welcome a guest post from Anthony Chaney, author of Runaway:  Gregory Bateson, the Double Bind, and the Rise of Ecological Consciousness, on Steely Dan, Columbia House and the negative-option record club. The anthropologist Gregory Bateson has been called a lost giant of twentieth-century thought. In the years following World War II, Bateson was among the group of mathematicians,… Continue Reading Anthony Chaney: The Royal Scam

Categories Anthropology/Author blog entry/Biography / Autobiography/Business/Cultural Studies/Music/UNC Press Authors/UNC Press News
June 21, 2017

UNC Press Summer Reading List

Happy Summer! In honor of the summer solstice, we’re posting our suggestions for your summer reading list. If you’re planning a fun tropical vacation or just heading to your neighborhood pool, UNC Press has your perfect summer read. Pick up a fun guidebook or new biography, and don’t forget about our 40% sale! Continue Reading UNC Press Summer Reading List

Categories African American Studies/American Studies/Biography / Autobiography/Biology/Cooking / Food/Cultural Studies/Current Events/Documentary Studies/Education/Environmental Studies/Events/Gardening/Geography/History/Jewish Studies/Juvenile/Music/Nature/North Carolina/Science/Southern Studies/Travel/UNC Press News/Women's Studies
June 12, 2017

Father’s Day Gift Guide

Father’s Day is a week away! Still looking for the perfect gift? Look no further than the UNC Press Father’s Day gift guide. We’ve compiled our best suggestions to match any dad’s interests. Continue Reading Father’s Day Gift Guide

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American History/Civil Rights/Events/History/Music/Nature/North Carolina/Photography/Sports/UNC Press News
April 24, 2017

Jennifer Le Zotte: Poppin’ Tags: How Musicians Helped Make Used Clothes Fashionable

Macklemore’s 2013 tribute to thrift shops articulates the enduring association of creative output with secondhand commerce. Voluntary secondhand dress persists precisely because it suggests both cultural and economic distinction. It satisfies a desire to be seen as different than the average consumer dupe, as willing to invest time in the cultivation of originality without utilizing class and wealth privilege. In reality, however, secondhand economies and styles throughout the twentieth century are much more complicated; studying them reveals the futility of pursuing an effective anti-consumer consumption. But whatever the continuing or resurgent stigmas and social critiques of secondhand products may be, many creative dressers continue to agree with Macklemore’s concise assessment: “This is fucking awesome.” Continue Reading Jennifer Le Zotte: Poppin’ Tags: How Musicians Helped Make Used Clothes Fashionable

Categories American History/American Studies/Author blog entry/Guest Bloggers/Music
March 14, 2017

Kristina M. Jacobsen: “Won’t You Be With Me Tonight (After the Ace’s Wild Dance)”?: Navajo Country Bands, Stage Patter, and Rodeo Announcers

Twenty years later, dances remain an important part of reservation social life, where live bands play up-tempo songs and couples mostly dance the two-step, a partner dance moving in a counter-clockwise direction. Dance bands play four-hour sets, typically 9 pm to 1 am, and take one break in the middle. The “sweet spot” for these dances is between 12 and 1: this is when the band is really warmed up, the dancers are relaxed, and dancers come out in large numbers onto the dance floor. It’s a short-lived space, nestled between lots of starts and stops and logistical glitches, but catching it is well worth the wait. For me, it’s a bit of time-capsuled, Navajo reservation magic. Continue Reading Kristina M. Jacobsen: “Won’t You Be With Me Tonight (After the Ace’s Wild Dance)”?: Navajo Country Bands, Stage Patter, and Rodeo Announcers

Categories Author blog entry/Guest Bloggers/Music/Native Amer./Indigenous Studies