Bobby Moore, University of West Georgia
Like most prospective historians, I’m immensely curious about a certain topic that’s helped define individual lives and regional cultures. My topic of choice has long been music. From my teenage years though my first stint in grad school (M.A. in Public History, University of West Georgia, 2011), punk rock dominated my studies and social life. While I still enjoy that style of music and deeply appreciate its role in defining my morals and values, I’m less curious about music practices I’ve experienced hands-on—my years between ending my M.A. studies and beginning an online Ed. S. program in 2014 included a short yet eye-opening run living in a punk house in Cleveland, Ohio. Besides, friends and acquaintances have devoted way more effort to do-it-yourself scenes and do a fine job preserving their own work and the contributions of their peers.
Years marred by poor life choices and lost loved ones made me better appreciate the country and white gospel music of my childhood. Now it’s those forms of roots music that find me digging deeper into the stories beyond timeless songs and artists. Both musical styles are oftentimes like a soundtrack to the socio-political happenings at 20th century mill villages, farms, and church houses, providing new perspectives for sharing history with broad audiences.
Since 2013, I’ve supplemented my income with freelance writing gigs. As with my research, covering punk and garage bands has given way over time to a growing interest in roots-based music. Even when writing about current Americana music, exemplified by such mainstream stars as Sturgill Simpson and Chris Stapleton, I love a story hook that ties today’s music to the past. Sometimes, I get to write about history, like I’ve done with She Shreds magazine’s Legends series. However, most publications seek stories with current contexts, so I would be better served quenching my musical curiosities as an educator, be it on a campus or at a museum or historic site.
As I plan my next step, be it a Ph. D. program or (fingers crossed) a career, opportunities to pursue my musical research interests are a top priority. In the interim, I am working on a magazine article and oral history project with Jack Cole, the son and singing partner of early Northwest Georgia-based hillbilly and gospel recording artists, and Atlanta and Rome, Georgia radio stars Grady and Hazel Cole. The 83-year-old former pastor may be the last person alive from the Cole family’s musical career, which is significant historically because Grady wrote the modern arrangement for “A Tramp on the Street,” an early Southern gospel song immortalized by Hank Williams. The Cole family’s story is the type I want to find and preserve, in the spirit of hometown record label Dust-to-Digital or the University of Southern California’s Gospel Music History Archive.
Let them hear it 