Uploaded August 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
crosstowntraffic2018.wordpress.com
This presentation took place as part of the conference Crosstown Traffic: Popular Music Theory and Practice, which was hosted by The University of Huddersfield from September 3 - 5 2018. This event combined the IASPM UK&Ireland Biennial Conference, the 13th Art of Record Production Conference (ARP), an ISMMS conference, and the additional participation of Dancecult.
A recurrent theme within popular music studies has been discussion of how the field can integrate different disciplines and professions, for example exploring both music and its context; involving both practitioners and researchers; and encouraging interdisciplinary and collaborative work. Many different issues make such approaches challenging, and various different popular music focused subject organisations have developed somewhat independently of one another. This conference brought four such groups together, to exchange knowledge, collaborate, and encourage crosstalk.
/// SUPPORT
Popular Music Studies Research Group (PMSRG), University of Huddersfield research.hud.ac.uk/pmsrg/#
Centre for Music, Culture and Identity (CMCI), University of Huddersfield
research.hud.ac.uk/institutes-centres/cmci
The International Association for the Study of Popular Music UK and Ireland Branch (IASPM UK & Ireland)
iaspm.org.uk
Association for the Study of the Art of Record Production (ASARP)
artofrecordproduction.com
Dancecult Research Network (DRN) studies into electronic dance music culture
dancecult-research.net
International Society for Metal Music Studies (ISMMS)
metalstudies.org
/// ORGANIZERS
IASPM UK&I: Rupert Till
ARP: Katia Isakoff, Shara Rambarran
ISMMS: Karl Spracklen
Dancecult: Graham St. John
University of Huddersfield: Jan Herbst, Austin Moore, Lisa Colton, Toby Martin, Catherine Haworth, Mark Mynett
/// CREDITS
This online project was edited, collated, and made available online by Chris McConnell, Jack Zissell, and Colin Frank.
/// PRESENTATION DETAILS
Cowboys and Humanists: Contextualizing Gene Autry’s Cowboy Code
Dr Mark Duffett - Reader in Media and Cultural Studies, University of Chester
Email: m.duffett@chester.ac.uk
/// ABSTRACT
In his celebrity image, glamorous country star Gene Autry played the role of ‘public cowboy number 1’ (George-Warren 2007), a figure who combined masculine authority with a sense of fairness and justice. From the late 1940s onward, proving country was a living genre (see Brackett 2016) he publicized his ‘cowboy code’: an ethical creed that included, in some iterations, ‘respecting women’ and ‘not advocating or possessing racially or religiously intolerant ideas.’ Autry’s sense of social justice struck a popular chord during his lifetime, and thus demonstrated that identifying as a popular music fan in the public sphere can have much wider consequences. My aim in this paper is to begin charting the historical progress, cultural context, and political resonance, first of Autry’s creed, and second of the fans who have supported it. Given the unique way in which the figure of the cowboy combined patriotism, male freedom and respect for others, my question is, what was its use in American society during the cold war period? What ideological work did Autry’s public advocacy of respectfulness and fairness do in relation to at home and abroad? What did, and does it mean to identify with a performer expressing such clearly defined personal values in the mainstream of a well established American vernacular genre?
crosstowntraffic2018.wordpress.com
This presentation took place as part of the conference Crosstown Traffic: Popular Music Theory and Practice, which was hosted by The University of Huddersfield from September 3 - 5 2018. This event combined the IASPM UK&Ireland Biennial Conference, the 13th Art of Record Production Conference (ARP), an ISMMS conference, and the additional participation of Dancecult.
A recurrent theme within popular music studies has been discussion of how the field can integrate different disciplines and professions, for example exploring both music and its context; involving both practitioners and researchers; and encouraging interdisciplinary and collaborative work. Many different issues make such approaches challenging, and various different popular music focused subject organisations have developed somewhat independently of one another. This conference brought four such groups together, to exchange knowledge, collaborate, and encourage crosstalk.
/// SUPPORT
Popular Music Studies Research Group (PMSRG), University of Huddersfield research.hud.ac.uk/pmsrg/#
Centre for Music, Culture and Identity (CMCI), University of Huddersfield
research.hud.ac.uk/institutes-centres/cmci
The International Association for the Study of Popular Music UK and Ireland Branch (IASPM UK & Ireland)
iaspm.org.uk
Association for the Study of the Art of Record Production (ASARP)
artofrecordproduction.com
Dancecult Research Network (DRN) studies into electronic dance music culture
dancecult-research.net
International Society for Metal Music Studies (ISMMS)
metalstudies.org
/// ORGANIZERS
IASPM UK&I: Rupert Till
ARP: Katia Isakoff, Shara Rambarran
ISMMS: Karl Spracklen
Dancecult: Graham St. John
University of Huddersfield: Jan Herbst, Austin Moore, Lisa Colton, Toby Martin, Catherine Haworth, Mark Mynett
/// CREDITS
This online project was edited, collated, and made available online by Chris McConnell, Jack Zissell, and Colin Frank.
/// PRESENTATION DETAILS
Cowboys and Humanists: Contextualizing Gene Autry’s Cowboy Code
Dr Mark Duffett - Reader in Media and Cultural Studies, University of Chester
Email: m.duffett@chester.ac.uk
/// ABSTRACT
In his celebrity image, glamorous country star Gene Autry played the role of ‘public cowboy number 1’ (George-Warren 2007), a figure who combined masculine authority with a sense of fairness and justice. From the late 1940s onward, proving country was a living genre (see Brackett 2016) he publicized his ‘cowboy code’: an ethical creed that included, in some iterations, ‘respecting women’ and ‘not advocating or possessing racially or religiously intolerant ideas.’ Autry’s sense of social justice struck a popular chord during his lifetime, and thus demonstrated that identifying as a popular music fan in the public sphere can have much wider consequences. My aim in this paper is to begin charting the historical progress, cultural context, and political resonance, first of Autry’s creed, and second of the fans who have supported it. Given the unique way in which the figure of the cowboy combined patriotism, male freedom and respect for others, my question is, what was its use in American society during the cold war period? What ideological work did Autry’s public advocacy of respectfulness and fairness do in relation to at home and abroad? What did, and does it mean to identify with a performer expressing such clearly defined personal values in the mainstream of a well established American vernacular genre?
