Deeper Digs in Rock: Professor Charles L. Hughes

Christian gets a chance to pick the big brain of Professor Charles L. Hughes, author of ‘Country Soul: Making Music and Making Race in the American South’.  They discuss the social-cultural dynamics of making music in Memphis, Nashville and Muscle Shoal in the 1960’s-1980’s, as well as the difference between the romantic myths and academic study.

Dr. Charles L. Hughes is the Director of the Memphis Center at Rhodes College, where he designs courses, programs, and partnerships. Dr. Hughes received his Ph.D. in U.S. History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2012, and previously served as the Memphis Center's Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow. His recent course offerings include The History of Memphis; Beale Street: The Past, Present and Future; Elvis Presley and America; and the Music of the American South. His acclaimed first book, Country Soul: Making Music and Making Race in the American South, was named one of the Best Music Books of 2015 by Rolling Stone and No Depression, one of Paste Magazine’s Best Nonfiction Books of the Year, and one of Slate’s “Overlooked Books” of 2015. 

Prof Hughes has published essays and given numerous talks in front of a range of audiences, including featured engagements at the Center for Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina, and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Library & Archives. He is currently working on a book about the history of African-Americans and professional wrestling in the United States, as well as several articles. He is a voter for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and a participant in the Nashville Scene’s Year-End Country Music Poll.

Find Dr. Charles L. Hughes on Twitter @CharlesLHughes2

Buy Country Soul: Making Music and Making Race in the American South Here.