Researching Regional and Rural Music Scenes: Toward a Critical Understanding of an Under-theorized Issue

ABSTRACT

Research on regional and rural popular music scenes focuses on a number of issues and challenges confronting such scenes. These include venues, work and employment, regional sensitivity to boom-and-bust scenarios in local heavy industries, tourism and leisure, and out-migration. To date, however, there has been very little critical examination of what precisely is meant by the terms “regional” or “rural” in relation to music scenes. This article considers some of the complex issues at play in the defining and enacting of region and a regional sense of place in the context of regional and rural popular music scenes.

KEYWORDS:

• Music scene
• place
• popular music
• regional
• rural
• trans-local

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Andy Bennett

Andy Bennett is Professor of Cultural Sociology in the School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science at Griffith University. He has written and edited numerous books including Popular Music and Youth Culture, Music, Style and Aging and Music Scenes (co-edited with Richard A. Peterson). He is a Faculty Fellow of the Yale Center for Cultural Sociology, an International Research Fellow of the Finnish Youth Research Network, a founding member of the Consortium for Youth, Generations and Culture, and a founding member of the Regional Music Research Group.

Ben Green

Dr. Ben Green is a cultural sociologist with interests in popular music and youth studies. Ben is an adjunct research fellow at the Griffith Center for Social and Cultural Research and a sessional academic at Griffith University. In affiliation with the Regional Music Research Group, he has undertaken industry and audience research in live music scenes, with policy impact including the City of Gold Coast’s Live Music Action Plan 2019–2023. Other work explores memory, affective belonging, and cultural change in music scenes based on ethnographic research in Brisbane.

David Cashman

Dr. David Cashman is a pianist, music educator, researcher, performer, and industry advocate. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Southern Cross University. David researches live music performance and industry particularly in regional areas, within tourism, and the performance practice thereof. He is an advocate for regional music scenes and a founder of the Regional Music Research Group. His book Performing Popular Music written with Dr. Waldo Garrido, will be published by Routledge in 2020. He is often to be found either behind a piano around Sydney or exploring new places on his motorbike.

Twitter: @DavidCashman

Natalie Lewandowski

Natalie Lewondowski is a research collaborator, educator, and consultant specializing in screen sound, public relations, media copyright, regional music and Australian contemporary art. With a background in marketing, communications and economics, Natalie integrates industry insight with critical analysis, resulting in a holistic approach which involves key stakeholders. Recent research projects and publications include an edited volume on music, health and wellbeing; ethnographic studies of Australian regional live music scenes; and case studies on creators in the Australian and New Zealand film soundtrack industries.