Speaker Sessions: McKenzie Isom on Women in Country Music

Location: Birthplace of Country Music Museum (in-person) and YouTube (virtual)

This event is FREE and open to the public, but please RSVP at the ticket link.

Join us on Tuesday, December 12 for our next Speaker Session featuring Dr. McKenzie Isom as she examines the experience of women in country music. Throughout the long 1970s, country music sought to cultivate a traditional, “authentic,” and conservative image and sound that would be commercially competitive. Though the study of country music continues to develop, very little attention has been paid to how this adherence to authenticity and traditionalism impacted its artists’ personal and professional lives, particularly among its roster of female artists. In her presentation, Dr. Isom will provide a more nuanced look into the inner workings of the country music industry, one that sheds light on the highly restrictive atmosphere and working culture that female country artists regularly struggled against during this period.

If you are attending via YouTube, the live stream will originate on the Radio Bristol YouTube channel after 6:50pm EST. If you load the channel page before 6:50pm, and the live stream does not automatically appear, please refresh the page after 6:50pm.

About McKenzie Isom

McKenzie L. Isom is an instructor of History at Trine University, where she teaches courses related to American history. She received her Ph.D. in History from Purdue University, where she specialized in 20th-century US history, gender studies, and popular culture. Her dissertation, “Rustic Roots and Rhinestone Cowboys: Southern Identity, Authenticity, and the Gendered Construction of Persona in the Long 1970s Country Music Industry,” examined the evolution of the term “authenticity” within the country music industry and its impact on female artists and their careers over time. Her most recent article about Bob Dylan’s connections to country music will be included in The Politics and Power of Bob Dylan’s Live Performance (Routledge Press). She is also currently working on an article discussing Welsh mythology’s impact on Stevie Nicks’ lyricism and stage persona that will be included in Classic Rock and Ancient History (Bloomsbury Publishing).