News About Me
Christmas Holiday Blog, 2016
Merry Christmas! I hope you enjoy the images of Christmases long ago scattered within this post. If you keep reading, you’ll learn more about them! Part I A friend of mine recently asked me what traditions my family followed for Christmas. I was hard pressed to come up with anything terribly specific or interesting. We don’t […]
Read MoreAudio Sample: My Science Fiction Novel
I’ve enjoyed reading science fiction and watching it on film and television for a long time. While I was in high school, I even wrote some sci-fi and fantasy stories, but I set that part of my creative life aside when I went to college and spent more and more time on my music. For years, […]
Read MoreWhat I’ve Been Watching (March and April): “Mr. Robot”
A Review: Mr. Robot What makes compelling television? One critical component—at least for dramatic series—is a lively ensemble cast with a set of compelling characters whose different backgrounds, motivations, aspirations, and flaws writers can explore (either in groups or individually) over a course of episodes. Twists and turns are also important, as is placing characters […]
Read MoreMy Chamber Music Recital
On Sunday, April 17, 2016, I presented a recital of some of my original chamber music at the First Presbyterian Church in Thomasville, Georgia. I was joined on the program by five very talented graduate students from the College of Music at Florida State University. Among the works presented were pieces for wind trio, quartet, and […]
Read MoreFamily Reflections at Christmas
Any moment now, my son, Nate, will walk through the door, home for his first extended winter break in College. It seemed appropriate, then, to post this short reflection. Several days ago, I was reading a letter that my Mom wrote to Heidi and me for our anniversary. It contained a beautiful reflection about my […]
Read MoreA Tribute to My Musical Mother
{Welcome to this expanded post, “A Tribute to My Musical Mother.” I added the original version of this tribute to my blog in November 2015. The expanded version includes additional photographs and several musical selections performed by my mother, Jean Pelkey. Enjoy! scp August 10, 2016} Many of you enjoyed reading my tribute to my musical […]
Read MoreA Tribute to My Musical Father
November 8, 2015 The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. I’ve been increasingly aware of the truth of that old saw as I have pushed into middle age. Every time I get a hair cut, I swear my father is looking back at me in the mirror! That’s not a bad thing in and of […]
Read MoreCurrent Projects
I am currently and actively working on three research and writing projects, two of which are direct expansions of my initial published work on 1950s and 1960s culture and intellectual history, which can be found in my chapters in Anxiety Muted: American Film Music in a Suburban Age. If all goes as currently planned, I will complete […]
Read MoreMajor Publications
As an active musicologist and historian, I am regularly working on research for a number of publications and other scholarly projects and contributions. Here are three publications that I would especially like to highlight for you. ~ ~ ~ Muted Anxiety: American Film Music in a Suburban Age (Oxford University Press, 2014) is now available. […]
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