Bill C. Malone (born August 25, 1934) is an American musician, author and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

specializing in

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

and other forms of traditional American music. He is the author of the 1968 book ''Country Music, U.S.A.'', the first definitive academic history of country music. Malone is

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of History at

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

and now resides in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

Biography

Malone was born on a cotton-growing tenant farm 20 miles west of

Tyler, Texas Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...

in 1934 and grew up with music as "a constant companion". After studying at community college, he enrolled in the University of Texas in 1956 and became a well-known singer in the

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

area, due in part to his encyclopedic repertoire of "hillbilly" songs he learned growing up. He performed at Threadgill's beer joint in Austin and completed his Master's degree. He was pleased when his faculty advisor suggested he write his doctoral dissertation on something he loved: "hillbilly", i.e., country, music. His 1965 dissertation was published in 1968 as ''Country Music, U.S.A.''Malone, Bill C
"Country Music Scholar", video interview with Malone
''Southern Spaces'', January 20, 2006. Accessed 2011-09-18. Malone hosts a weekly radio show, ''Back to the Country'', on WORT–FM community radio in Madison, and performs country music with his wife, Bobbie Malone, playing mandolin and guitar.

Honours

Malone was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

in 1984 to assist his research in U.S. history. In 2008, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for American Music."About the author"
at googlebooks, ''CM,USA''. Retrieved 2011-09-18.

Selected publications

*''An early history of Austin, Texas, 1839-1861'' (1958)

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, pp. 272,
googlebooks
*''Country Music, U.S.A.'' (1968; revised edition 1984; 2nd revised, annotated edition 2002; 3rd revised, annotated edition 2010 with Jocelyn R. Neal)

University of Texas Press The University of Texas Press (or UT Press) is a university press that is part of the University of Texas at Austin. Established in 1950, the Press publishes scholarly books and journals in several areas, including Latin American studies, Texan ...

, pp. 664, *''Southern Music/American Music'' (co-author with David Stricklin) (1979; 2nd, illustrated, revised edition 2003)

University Press of Kentucky The University Press of Kentucky (UPK) is the scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and was organized in 1969 as successor to the University of Kentucky Press. The university had sponsored scholarly publication since 1943. In 194 ...

, pp. 236, *''Singing Cowboys and Musical Mountaineers: Southern Culture and the Roots of Country Music'' (1993) University of Georgia Press, pp. 168, * *''Working Girl Blues: The Life and Music of Hazel Dickens'' (co-author with Hazel Dickens) (2008) University of Illinois Press, pp. 102, *''Music from the True Vine: Mike Seeger's Life and Musical Journey'' (2011) UNC Press Books, pp. 240,

References

External links

*
"Country Music Scholar", October 2005 video interview with Malone
in ''Southern Spaces'', published by Emory University Libraries, January 20, 2006. Accessed 2011-09-18. {{DEFAULTSORT:Malone, Bill C. Living people 1934 births American music historians American male non-fiction writers Musicians from Wisconsin Musicians from Texas