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Dr. Emily GaleThursday, Feb. 27 | 7 – 9 p.m.
Owl Acoustic Lounge
Feeling remains critical to how and why most listeners engage with popular song. However, a deep dive into sentimental pop music reveals persistent judgment and suspicion—terms like “overly emotional,” “pathetic,” “mawkish,” and “cloying” often surface when examining the history of the most popular English-language songs of the last 250 years.
What does an 1855 sentimental song sheet that sold approximately 20 million copies reveal about gender and race in antebellum culture? How did a 1960s singalong television show shape notions of belonging and American citizenship during the U.S. Civil Rights movement?
Join Dr. Emily Gale as she explores beyond the idea of “guilty pleasures” to uncover the unexpected political histories of sentimental songs and why we should take these sounded feelings seriously.
Dr. Emily Gale is a feminist music scholar and Assistant Professor of Musicology/Ethnomusicology in the Department of Music. Her book in progress, Sentimental Songs for Sentimental People: An Unheard History of U.S. Popular Music, analyzes the politics of affect and sentimentality within U.S. popular music from the late 18th century to the present. Chapters on love, youth, death, tears, home, and “feels” examine the counterpublic reverberations of a repertoire long considered trite—or even embarrassing—revealing unlikely entanglements.
Since 2019, Emily has been broadcasting radio shows about this research on SUB_ʇXƎʇ and UCC98.3FM. Her voice has also appeared as a pop commentator on NPR’s All Things Considered and in the Los Angeles Times.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Owl Acoustic Lounge, 606 3rd Ave South,Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
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