DEGREES
York University, Dept. of Music
Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology, 2009
Roots Music in Calgary, Alberta: An Ethnography
Rob Bowman, dissertation supervisor
University of Kings College
M.F.A. in Creative Nonfiction, 2017
Book: Liner Notes: Stories Behind Favourite Songs
University of Alberta, Dept. of Music
M.A. in Musicology/Ethnomusicology, 2003
We Are Lost Together: Blue Rodeo and the Construction of Canadian Identity
Adam Krims, thesis supervisor
University of Calgary, Dept. of Music
B.A. (Honours) in Music, 2000
CERTIFICATES/PROFESSIONAL DESIGNATIONS
Ryerson University, Chang School of Continuing Education
Publishing Certificate, 2013
WORK EXPERIENCE
Instructor, Ryerson University, Department of Music and Philosophy, 2006 - Present
-Music 505: Popular Music and Culture
-Music 503: Social Issues in Pop Music
-Music 520: Women in Popular Music
-Music 211: Music Cultures of the City
-Music 101: Introduction to World and Early European Music
-Music 201: Introduction to Classical Music
-Music 401: Music, Religion, and Spirituality
Faculty Mentor, MFA Program in Creative Nonfiction, University of King’s College, 2019 - Present
Editor, Canadian Folk Music Magazine, 2011 - 2017
Editorial Assistant, MUSICultures, 2014 - 2018
Freelance Writer, 2010 - Present
Freelance Proofreader and Editor, 2013 - Present
Staff Writer, Wide Open Country, 2016
Piano Instructor, Neighbour Note, 2016
Research Consultant for the Canadian Museum of History, 2016
Research Consultant for Loretta Lynn: Still a Mountain Girl, PBS American Masters Series. Aired March 2016
Entertainment Manager, Calgary Roots Music Venue, April 2014 - April 2015
Dispatch Coordinator, Artbooks Tax Preparation, January 2014 - February 2015
Intern, Canadian House & Home Magazine, 2013
Teaching Assistant, York University, Department of Music, 2003 - 2009
Music Department Assistant, CHRY Radio, 2004
Research Assistant, University of Alberta, 2001 - 2003
GRANTS, HONOURS, AND AWARDS
Canada Council for the Arts Research and Creation Grant, 2021
Chalmers Professional Development Grant, Ontario Arts Council, 2019
Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Arts Presenting Grant, 2019 (Awarded for presenting Wide Cut Weekend Roots Music Festival)
Canada Council for the Arts Research and Creation Grant, 2018
SOCAN Popular Music Festival Grant, 2018 (Awarded for presenting Wide Cut Weekend Roots Music Festival)
Access Copyright Foundation Research Grant, 2018
Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Arts Presenting Grant, 2018 (Awarded for presenting Wide Cut
Weekend Roots Music Festival)
SOCAN Popular Music Festival Grant, 2017 (Awarded for presenting Wide Cut Weekend Roots Music Festival)
FACTOR Festival Sponsorship, 2016 (Awarded for presenting Wide Cut Weekend Roots Music Festival)
City of Calgary Strategic Initiatives Grant, 2015 (Awarded for developing and presenting Wide Cut Weekend Roots Music Festival)
SOCAN Publication Grant, 2013 (Awarded for publication of Canadian Folk Music)
SOCAN Publication Grant, 2012 (Awarded for publication of Canadian Folk Music)
Ontario Graduate Scholarship, York University, 2007 - 2008
Ontario Graduate Scholarship, York University, 2005 - 2006
Graduate Student Essay Prize, Parkland Institute, University of Alberta, 2005
Ph.D. Entrance Scholarship, York University, 2003 - 2004
Graduate Arts Scholarship, Alberta Heritage Scholarship Fund, University of Alberta, 2002 - 2003
PUBLICATIONS
Books
Sonic Booms: Making Music in an Oil Town. Eternal Cavalier Press, 2019.
Papers in Refereed Journals:
“Authorship and Nostalgia in Contemporary Cowboy Repertoire,” Cultural Studies, Critical Methodologies, 16/1 (2016): 58-67. Read here.
“ ‘Land of the In Between’: Nostalgia and the Gentrification of Calgarian Roots Music,” MUSICultures, 36 (2009), 22-48. Read here.
“Radio Mondo: Transcending the Boundaries of Community Radio in Alberta,” Culture and Tradition, 27 (2005), 123-32.
Chapters in Books:
“You Actually Get Paid?: Getting a Gig in the Calgary Roots Scene,” Grassland Sounds: Popular and Folk Musics of the Canadian Prairies, co-edited with Geoff Whittall, forthcoming.
“‘Anything But Ballet’: Individuality, Genre-Bending, and Sexual Expression in Center Stage,” Movies, Moves & Music: the Sonic World of Dance Film, edited by Mark Evans and Pauline Manley, Equinox Publishing, 2016, 150-166. Read here.
“Underground Survival: Vocal Performance Practice and Intertextuality in Canadian Alt-Country,” Spanning the Distance: Reflections on Popular Music in Canada, edited by Charity Marsh and Holly Everett, forthcoming.
Please see Writing for a list of other publications
Lectures
“On Writing About Music,” presented at York University, October 8, 2019.
"Neko Case, The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You," presented at the Sounds of the Times: Albums that Changed How We Listen series, Ryerson University, February 2, 2017.
“Anything but Ballet: Individuality and Sexual Expression in the film Center Stage,” presented at the Ryerson Music Series, January 26, 2016.
“The Singing Voice in Country Music,” presented in Music 3336: The Musical Voice, York University, February 3, 2015.
“Finding Music at the Calgary Stampede,” presentation for Canadian Studies 451: The Culture of the Calgary Stampede, University of Calgary, July 5, 2012.
“Land of the In Between: Gentrification, Nostalgia, and Desired Landscapes in Calgarian Roots Music,” presentation in the Ryerson Music Series: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Ryerson University, September 29, 2009.
PAPERS READ
2019. Roundtable. “Rethinking Priorities in Post-Secondary Music Curricula Today: Decolonizing, ‘Indigenizing,’ and Visions for the Future,” presented at the Canadian Society for Traditional Music (CSTM) and International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM Canada Chapter) joint conference, UQAM, May 25.
“Teaching Gender Parity in the Pop Music Canon,” presented at the Learning and Teaching Conference, Ryerson University, May 2018.
“Pop Music Parity in Practice,” presented at the Society for Ethnomusicology Conference, Niagara Chapter, Ryerson University, April 2018.
“Re-thinking Folk Music in Alberta and Beyond,” part of Alberta Folk Music in the 21st Century panel. Presented at the meeting of the Canadian Society for Traditional Music, Cape Breton University, June 2015.
“Tradition and Authorship in Contemporary Cowboy Songs,” presented at the Singing Storytellers Conference, Cape Breton University, October 2014.
“Tips on Submitting Articles, Exercising Patience, and Developing the Writer-Editor Relationship,” part of Roundtable on (Academic) Publishing. Presented at the meeting of the Canadian Society for Traditional Music Conference, University of Sudbury, May 2014.
“CoalDust Grins: The Conscious Creation of Western Canadian Mining Songs,” part of Country Music, Place, and the North American Fossil Fuel Energy Industry panel. Presented at the meeting of the Society for American Music, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, March 2014.
“Authorship in Contemporary Cowboy Repertoire,” presented at the meeting of the Canadian Society for Traditional Music Conference, University of Alberta, May-June 2013.
“Toward an Ethnography of Vocal Performance Practice,” presented at the meeting of the International Council for Traditional Music and Canadian Society for Traditional Music Joint Conference, Memorial University, July 2011.
“Imagining Prairie Spaces in Roots Music Composition,” presented at the meeting of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, Canada Chapter, McGill University, June 2011.
“ ‘The Curse of Hank’: Intertextuality and Vocal Performance Practice in Western Canadian Alt-Country,” presented at the meeting of the International Country Music Conference, Belmont University, May 2011.
“How Did I Get Here? Discovering the Philosophical Roots of Our Teaching Values,” presented at the meeting of the Canadian Society for Traditional Music and International Association for the Study of Popular Music (Canada Chapter) Joint Conference, University of Regina, June 2010. With Heather Sparling and Judith Klassen.
“ ‘You Better Like the Rodeo’: Inventing the West in Calgarian Country Music,” presented at the meeting of the Canadian Society for Traditional Music, Universite de Montreal, October 2009.
“$10K, No Strings Attached: Controlling the Marginal on Commercial Radio,” presented at the meeting of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, Canada Chapter, Dalhouse University, June 2009.
“ ‘Land of the In Between’: Independent Film in Alternative Country,” presented at the meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology, Niagara Chapter, York University, March 2008.
“Western Canadian Cowboy Music: Tradition and Innovation,” presented at the meeting of the Society for American Music, San Antonio, Texas, February 2008.
“Developments in Western Canadian Cowboy Music,” presented at the meeting of the Canadian Society for Traditional Music, University of Alberta, November 2007.
“Representation of Diversity on Canadian Community Radio Stations,” presented at the meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology, Honolulu, Hawaii, November 2006.
“Fresh Air: Reconceptualizing Communities at CHRY Radio,” presented at the meeting of the Canadian University Music Society, York University, May 2006.
“Sounds Like Home: Indie Record Labels in Calgary and the Creation of a Community Sound,” presented at the meeting of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, Canada Chapter, University of Regina, May 2006.
“Creating a Global Soundscape: Gentrification and Music in Calgary’s East Village,” presented at the meeting of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, U.S. Chapter, Middle Tennessee State University, February 2006.
“Radio Mondo: Transcending the Boundaries of Community Radio in Alberta,” presented at the meeting of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, Canada Chapter, Memorial University, June 2005.
“Defining the Parameters of World Beat and Roots Music on Community Radio,” presented at the meeting of the Canadian Society for Traditional Music, York University, October 2004.
“Twang, Tonk, or Grunge?: Aesthetics of Independent Country Recording in Calgary, AB,” presented at the meeting of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, Canada Chapter, Carleton University, May 2004.
“Strong Enough to be a Man?: Bodies, Images, and Gendered Performance in Sheryl Crow and the Dixie Chicks,” presented at the Graduate Student Colloquium, York University, May 2004.
“‘Canadian Cottage Weekend:’ Place in Blue Rodeo’s Music and Videos,” presented at the meeting of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, McGill University, July 2003.
“Drinkin’, Cheatin’, Smokin’: Tom Phillips and Authentic Calgarian Music,” presented at the Pacific Northwest Graduate Music Student Conference, University of British Columbia, October 2002.
MEDIA
Guest on No Sleep Til Sudbury, 2019.
Guest on No Sleep Til Sudbury, 2018.
Research Consultant for Loretta Lynn: Still a Mountain Girl, PBS American Masters Series, 2016.
Profile in The Calgary Collection documentary, produced by Gillian McKercher and Mike Tod. Fall 2014.
Consultant for "The Ballad of Tin Ears" on Ideas, CBC Radio. First Aired May 6, 2014.
Host and producer of "Graincars and Gravel Roads," weekly roots music program on CHRY Community Radio, 2004 - 2005.
Co-host and producer of "Sunny Side Up," weekly world beat/roots music program on CJSR Community Radio, 2002 - 2003.
SELECT PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND SERVICE
Local Arrangements Chair and member of Program Committee, Society for Ethnomusicology Niagara Chapter conference, 2018, Ryerson University.
Co-Founder; Board Member, Wide Cut Weekend Roots Music Festival, 2014 - present.
Board member, Canadian Society for Traditional Music, 2011 - 2018.
Member, Program Committee and Local Arrangements Committee, Canadian Society for Traditional Music conference, 2012, Ryerson University.
Graduate Colloquium Coordinator, York University Music Department, 2009 - 2010.
References available on request.