My primary area of research is American music, particularly the vernacular and regional practices, as well as the processes and historical forces behind the creation of the various strands of music that present as uniquely American.  My masters thesis focused on the financial support systems for American composers.  My dissertation, The Roots and Influences of the Everly Brothers (Boston University, 2010), examines the life and work of this first successful vocal duo of the rock 'n' roll era. I also maintain an active interest in the music of Hawaii and shape-note tunebooks, and am currently exploring the connection between television, music, and rock 'n' roll. I have presented at the annual conferences of the Society for American Music, the Society for Ethnomusicology, Music and the Moving Image, and the International Country Music Conference. I have written entries for the new edition of the Grove Dictionary of American Music, and have articles on shape-note tunebooks and the Everly Brothers on television in review.

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Projects

Mapping Musical Cultures in Massachusetts

A project of the Fall 2015 MUSC-199 class to map the musical cultures of Massachusetts and connect them to the imigration patterns in the state.

Writing about/in Music

This project consists of a set of web pages, documents, links, and videos on writing about music or writing as a music professional.