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Category Archives: Music
New Book Review: Clayton Childress on Paul Lopes’s “Art Rebels” #sssi #music #art
In symbolic interactionism and our journal there is a long-standing interest in art and music. For example, in 2015 we published Wenchao Lu’s interview with Howard Becker “Sociology and Art” and Lucia Ruggerone’s and Neil Jenkings’s article “Talking About Beauty“, … Continue reading
Posted in book review, Music, symbolic interaction
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What’s in a Name
“I don’t know what it’s called,” they say smiling, “But its track four, yeah, track four, this moment is definitely track four!” “There is something about that song, you know the one with the thing about the elephant, there is … Continue reading
Homecoming Queens & the Soundtracking of a Research-based Novel
After first publishing Cigarettes & Wine (see review in Symbolic Interaction) and later beginning my own independent series of sociological and queer based southern stories with Essence, I released my second research-based novel in the Social Fictions Series earlier this month – … Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Book, Dramaturgy, Emotion, Interactionism, Music, music sssi
Tagged blog, Ethnography, music, sociology
2 Comments
Between the Sounds
The other day I did something I have done many times, but I thought about it more than I normally have, likely because I write this blog and occasionally do some music-related scholarly work nowadays. This leads me to regularly … Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Dramaturgy, Music, music sssi, symbolic interaction
Tagged art, blog, music, sociology
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Into the Great Wide Open
The title of this post refers to two things in my home office right now. First, I am currently listening to a song by this name by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. I’m currently on a massive Tom Petty kick … Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Music, music sssi, Reflection, Research
Tagged blog, music, research, sociology
4 Comments
Gonorrhea on a Gravel Road
Have you ever thought about song lyrics that people mishear? Have you ever wondered about what such accidental reinterpretations might say? Have you ever had one of these occasions become an inside joke or other bonding experience? The title of … Continue reading
Exploring the Meaning(s) of Record Store Day
Right now, I’m sitting on my porch sipping a cup of coffee and listening to the latest release from Brandy Clark – Live from Los Angeles. I’m especially happy to be doing this because this record is one of the 8 … Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Interactionism, Music, music sssi, Record Stores, Research, symbolic interaction
Tagged blog, Interaction, music, Record Stores, research, sociology
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Teaching Sociology with Music…Some Examples
A few months back, I spoke on a conference panel about using music in the classroom. Both before and after that talk, I chatted with a handful of people interested in examples I used in classes to cover various concepts. … Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Discussion, Music, music sssi, Teaching
Tagged art, blog, music, sociology, teaching
4 Comments
The best albums of 2016 in my opinion
With the new year approaching, I look forward to many new posts concerning the intersection of music and society on this blog. At the same time, I wanted to close out the year by simply doing what almost every other … Continue reading
Event Specific Playlists
In recent weeks, I have enjoyed a series of posts people have made in various corner of the internet sharing playlists they have created for processing the results of the recent U.S. Presidential election. Roaming around online, I have seen … Continue reading
Writing Fuel
A few years ago, I had a nice conversation about writing habits with a colleague who cares very little for music except when she is writing. While she almost never listened to music at any other time, she noted how … Continue reading
Start Again
As I noted in a previous post, my life partner and I went to once again feed my never ending desire to see the Counting Crows live as many times as possible back in July. During that particular show under … Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Discussion, Music, music sssi, Reflection
Tagged blog, Counting Crows, music, Playlists
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Improvisation versus Familiarity
This past week, my life partner and I went to see the Counting Crows perform live. It was not the first time we saw the band live, and unless they retire, it won’t be the last. This time, however, I … Continue reading
Posted in Blog, concerts, Interactionism, Music, music sssi
Tagged blog, concerts, culture, interactionism, music
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The Theoretical Intersection of Science and Music – An Abstract
In this post, Dr. Joseph Kotarba shares the abstract from a recent keynote talk he gave in Bulgaria at the Seventh Annual Conference of the ESSSI and will elaborate on as well at the upcoming SSSI annual meetings. The … Continue reading
Posted in #sssi, Annual Conference, Blog, Discussion, Guest Post, Interactionism, Music, music sssi, Research, SSSI
Tagged blog, conference, culture, Ethnography, interactionism, music, research, sociology, SSSI
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Big Day in a Record Collection
One of the more interesting things about constantly collecting, listening to, and checking out new music is that I rarely spend much time waiting for or anticipating any given new release. Since I end up with new artists, records, and … Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Emotion, Music, music sssi
Tagged art emotions interactionism music pain, blog, music
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Genres Revisited
About a year ago, I wrote a post on this blog exploring the meanings and nuances embedded within musical genres and categorizations. After discussing examples of variations and debates concerning different types of music and the meanings people attach to … Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Discussion, Music, music sssi, Record Stores, Research
Tagged blog, genre, music, pop, research, sociology
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The More I Write
“Well if I have one, I’ll have thirteen” is a lyric from a Blake Shelton song called “The More I Drink” from his Pure BS album. Although I do not happen to drink much if at all for the most … Continue reading
Looking back on a year
About a year ago, I began editing and writing on this blog. After a year, I find myself surprised that a year has already gone by, and that I am still doing it. When I initially agreed to start working … Continue reading
Don’t say my name
Over the weekend, my life partner and I caught a concert put on by the Sarah Mac Band. The show was quite a bit of fun, and the music – an Americana sound with storyteller style lyrics – was very … Continue reading
Posted in Blog, concerts, Discussion, Interactionism, Music, music sssi
Tagged blog, concerts, Identity Work, interactionism, music
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Music, Communities, and Connections
In this guest post, Xan Nowakowski reflects on connections and communities fostered by live music, and the ways such experiences may impact us individually and bind us to others in predictable and unexpected ways. Recently I’ve spent a lot … Continue reading
Posted in Blog, concerts, Event, Guest Post, Interactionism, Music, music sssi, Xan Nowakowski
Tagged blog, concerts, genre, music
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Symbolic Interaction Music Blog 
