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At the 2018 Appalachian Studies Association conference, I propose to reassess the work of Appalachian-native W. C. Handy, an influential musician/composer/publisher. During his life (1873-1958), Handy was publicly revered as a successful African American entrepreneur and as a music pioneer—the “Father of the Blues” (a notion advanced by Handy himself through his myth-making autobiography). In recent years, his reputation declined, a situation likely resulting from his political conservatism, his accommodationist stance on racial matters, and a perception—particularly among younger African Americans—that he had co-opted and commodified his music from tradition (rather than innovatively renegotiating tradition). While other African American musicians from his generation have received scholarly and popular attention in recent years (Jelly Roll Morton, Lead Belly), Handy has been generally neglected. Today, few of his own recordings are in general release, while even his legendary compositions (“St. Louis Blues,” “Memphis Blues”) are seldom interpreted by contemporary musicians, probably because of a perspective that Handy’s blues compositions are generally considered as defined by and entrenched in an earlier soundscape. In my presentation, I will provide a biographical sketch of Handy, briefly discussing his upbringing in post-Civil War Florence, Alabama; his years as an itinerant teacher and musician in Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Indiana; his creatively innovative years in Memphis, Tennessee, as a regionally and then nationally recognized musician and composer; and his years of increasing financial success as a publisher based in New York City. I will suggest that one of the reasons for neglect of Handy as a culture figure was because his artistic identity was complex—he worked in folk, popular, and elite realms simultaneously without obeisance to rigid aesthetic categorizations. As a businessman he was a pragmatist. He was organized and methodical in his interpretation of traditional materials in the pursuit of marketable cultural expressions of African American cultural values that ultimately appealed to Americans on both sides of the Jim Crow Era racial divide.

This thesis explores the past and current roles that female bluegrass musicians achieve within the music industry in the United States. Using sociological concepts by Judith Butler, Simon Frith, Mavis Bayton, and, importantly, Thomas Turino’s ideas of participatory and communal versus performative and individual, I demonstrate women’s complex musical, social, and cultural positions in bluegrass culture. While women continue to make strides in achieving recognition in the bluegrass genre, society still hinders them from finding complete acceptance alongside male musicians. As bluegrass music is based on patriarchal foundations set by its creator, Bill Monroe of the Blue Grass Boys, female bluegrass musicians constantly struggle to variously actualize and resist this gendered model. Even as bluegrass women achieve success through manipulation of the traditional rules set before them, they continue to struggle against patriarchal foundations and women’s historical association with the voice. Through historical research, personal observations, and in-depth interviews with three female bluegrass musicians, I show that even as these women find acceptance within their own bands, they recognize the unequal musical acknowledgement they receive. With regard to communal and individual performance realms, women, unlike men, have trouble fulfilling positions in both areas. In order to achieve success, some bluegrass women embrace their sexuality and present an overtly feminine image to their audiences. Notions of tradition, authenticity and hybridity help frame my discussion of women’s roles. While the power of tradition and authenticity hinder women’s progress in the genre, concepts of hybridity allow them to branch out from conventions set down by first generation male bluegrass performers like Bill Monroe and the Stanley Brothers.

Thesis (Ph. D., Environmental Science)--University of Idaho, June 2009. / Major professor: J.D. Wulfhorst. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online (PDF file) by subscription or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Idaho, 2005. / Abstract. "December 2005." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-92). Also available online in PDF format.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Horticulture, Forestry, and Recreation Resources / Dale J. Bremer / Steven J. Keeley / High temperature and drought may reduce quality in cool-season turfgrasses during summer in the transition zone. Texas bluegrass hybrids (HBG) are genetic crosses between native Texas bluegrass (Poa arachnifera Torr.) and Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) (KBG) that resemble KBG but may have greater drought and heat resistance than other cool-season grasses. The objectives of four studies were to evaluate high temperature, drought, and lower mowing height effects on HBG compared with KBG ('Apollo') and tall fescue (Festuca arundincea Schreb.)(TF, 'Dynasty'), compare their rooting characteristics, and investigate their membrane lipid molecular species compositional differences. Under high temperature (35/25°C, 14h light/10h darkness), HBG ('Thermal Blue') had greater quality and gross photosynthesis (Pg), and lower electrolyte leakage than KBG and TF in a growth chamber study. The combination of high temperature and drought (60% ET replacement) caused rapid declines in quality, but HBG generally performed better. In field and greenhouse studies, TF had more roots deeper in the profile than two HBG ('Reveille' and Thermal Blue) and KBG under well-watered conditions. In the field, quality and Pg were greatest in TF among turfgrasses. Performances in quality and Pg generally ranked: TF > Reveille >= Thermal Blue = KBG. In a separate mowing height and drought field study, HBG (Thermal Blue) generally had lower quality and Pg than KBG at both high (7.62 cm) and low (3.81 cm) heights but particularly at the low height. Drought resistance and tolerance to low mowing in Thermal Blue was similar to or poorer than in KBG. Under supra-optimum temperature (35 /25°C and 40 /30°C, 14h light/10h darkness), the ratio of digalactosyldiacylglycerol (DGDG) to monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG) was highest in HBG (Thermal Blue) and lowest in TF. Heat tolerance was also associated with higher phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) content, higher phosphatidylglycerol (PG) content, and reduced overall unsaturation compared with heat-sensitive. Results suggest that 40 membrane lipid molecules are potential biomarkers for heat tolerance and that compositional changes in lipids in response to heat may contribute to differences in heat tolerance among cool-season grasses. Generally, studies indicated greater heat resistance, but not drought resistance, in HBG than in KBG or TF.

Annual bluegrass (Poa annua L.) is a problematic weed in turfgrass that has evolved resistance to twelve different herbicide sites of action. The mitotic-inhibiting herbicide pronamide has both pre- and post-emergence activity on susceptible annual bluegrass populations. Still, post-emergence activity may be compromised in some resistant populations due to the lack of root uptake or an unknown foliar resistance mechanism. Spray droplet size may affect foliar and soil deposition of pronamide, thus potentially explaining variation in population control or differential foliar and root uptake. Pronamide, flazasulfuron, and pronamide + flazasulfuron deposition were quantified on annual bluegrass as affected by spray-droplet size. The efficacy of these herbicide treatments in resistant (R) and susceptible (S) annual bluegrass populations was then evaluated with two droplet sizes (400 and 1000 μm). Absorption and translocation of pronamide were investigated in R and S populations following foliar-only and soil-only pronamide applications.