Remaking the Archive with Country Soul Songbook

Remaking the Archive with Country Soul Songbook: A Conversation with Kym Register and Kamara Thomas

A Humanities in Community Event

This conversation is motivated by a set of questions. Is a song an archive? Are singers and songwriters archivists? What are the kinships that connect songwriters and singers and storytellers and oral historians? How do songs and stories change when they move from performance in community to the fixed state of recordings and transcripts? How can we move beyond the celebration of individuals to a better understanding of the give-and-take-and-give that is part of all good stories? What role have archivists and archives played in perpetuating inequalities and absences in the history of music, and what role can they play in righting those wrongs? How much work can be done through the singing of songs and the naming of names in performance?

Join us as we gather around these questions with Kym Register and Kamara Thomas, who, among many hats, are leaders of Country Soul Songbook, a curation and production team rooted in the mission to amplify BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ voices in country, Americana, rock and roots music. The conversation will be guided by Duke audiovisual archivist Craig Breaden.

This is part of an ongoing series featuring conversations with people who are bringing the ideas and values of the humanities into work beyond university borders.

Light dinner/snacks will be provided.

Registration is not required, but we'll be grateful if you let us know you're planning to attend!

PARKING INFORMATION: Please see the detailed guidance on this page, thanks to our friends at the DHRC@FHI.