2012 EMP Pop Conference

David Cantwell is a writer and college English professor from Kansas City, where he teaches "Literature of American Popular Music." He is co-author of Heartaches by the Number: Country Music's 500 Greatest Singles and his critical biography of Merle Haggard will be published in 2013.   "Tired of this Dirty Old City: Country Music's Freedom Problem, and Ours…" Country music’s most frequently, fiercely expressed value since at... Read More →

Jasen Emmons is the director of curatorial affairs at EMP Museum in Seattle. He has curated several exhibits, including Bob Dylan’s American Journey, 1956-1966 and Taking Aim: Unforgettable Rock ‘n’ Roll Photographs.   Abstract: | | "Dim Lights, Thick Smoke, and Loud, Loud Music: How the Bakersfield Sound Saved Country Music from Itself " In the late 1950s, country music went uptown. After years of fan unity... Read More →

Sara Marcus is the author of Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution (Harper Perennial, 2010). Her writing appears in publications including The Nation (forthcoming, December 2011), Bookforum, Artforum, Los Angeles Review of Books, Slate, and Salon. She is a founding editor of New Herring Press.   Abstract: | | "'Living in a Big Old City': Can Country Music's Urban/Rural Moral Binary Survive?" “Someday... Read More →

Lauren Onkey is Vice President of Education and Public Programs at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland. She teaches at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland State University and was formerly an English professor at Ball State University. Her publications include Blackness and Transatlantic Irish Identity: Celtic Soul Brothers (Routledge, 2009).   Abstract: | | "Feminist Musicking and Educational Activism in... Read More →