Sac History Happenings: New journal discusses Sacramento's country music roots

Sac History Happenings

News and developments in Sacramento and California history

May 13, 2011

New journal discusses Sacramento's country music roots

At the start of spring, the University of California Press released a new arts, culture, and history-based publication called Boom: A Journal of California.

The first issue features several scholarly articles which address California's economic and social difficulties (titles include "How to Fix a Broken State" by Joe Matthews and Mark Paul, and "Race and the Mythology of California's Lost Paradise" by Daniel HoSang.) A music-related article by Jesse Drew, Associate Professor of Technocultural Studies at UC Davis, addresses something slightly different.

The article, titled "Country Music's California Heart," discusses the musical genre's reputation as an art form steeped in traditional or conservative values, and the ways in which those values may be at odds with California as a place of "nontraditional lifestyles, radical protest movements and a rejection of the status quo." In the article, Drew considers where California Country music fits into the vast political spectrum.

"County Music's California Heart" features images obtained from the Center for Sacramento History and makes specific reference to longtime Sacramento resident Bob Wills, his western swing band, the Texas Playboys, and the bygone era of Wills Point (an entertainment venue located near today's I-80 off ramp to Auburn Boulevard.) Some Sac History Happenings readers may be surprised to know that country music has locally established roots...

Information regarding subscriptions to Boom: A Journal of California may be found at the following link: http://ucpressjournals.com/journal.asp?j=boom and details regarding Jesse Drew's current film project "Big Country: The Politics of Country Music" may be found through his website: http://www.jessedrew.com/

IMAGE CREDIT: Postcard of Wills Point, Courtesy of the Center for Sacramento History, City of Sacramento Collection, 2001/x-03/0126

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California and Sacramento have a long, rich, vibrant history. And our region is blessed with an abundance of historical resources maintained by museums, libraries, archives and societies. This blog aims to alert readers to the latest developments in local/state historical education and research.

Send tips concerning upcoming exhibits, tours, lectures and meetings, as well as new books, magazine articles and online collections to the blog's contributors.

The Contributors:

Michael Dolgushkin

Michael Dolgushkin is Manuscript Librarian at the California State Library History Section. He is co-author of San Francisco's California Street Cable Cars and is a frequent contributor to the California State Library Foundation Bulletin. Contact him at mdolgushkin@library.ca.gov.

Amanda Graham is a Certified Archivist working in the Sacramento Room of the Sacramento Public Library. She earned a BS in History from Southern Oregon University and a MS in Information Studies with an emphasis in archives from The University of Texas at Austin. Contact her at agraham@saclibrary.org.

Pete Basofin is Director of Editorial Research at The Sacramento Bee. He previously worked at The St. Petersburg Times and Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune. Contact him at pbasofin@sacbee.com.

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