The three papers in this panel focus largely on Black music and its rootedness in specific geographic locations. Two of the papers are site-specific, with one looking at the roots of a blues woman in North Carolina and the other at the blues and other cultural traditions of the Delta and Hill Country of Mississippi. The third paper looks at the broader geographic boundaries of country music and who has claims to that music, as evidenced in Beyoncé’s new album, Cowboy Carter.

This Ain’t Texas No More!: Beyoncé™ and the Black Banjo Renaissance, by Joe Z. Johnson

In the wake of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter’s Cowboy Carter feature of “banjo auntie” Rhiannon Giddens, African American Roots musicians an increased popular media attention. Through my analysis of social media discourse, the album, ethnographic interviews, and archival research, this presentation examines the impact of this highly discussed work within my community of Black banjo players. It views Beyoncé™, the sociopolitical apparatus, as part of the blackface lore cycle– a process that oversimplifies complex semiotic meanings and grassroots community initiatives. Without careful consideration, I suggest, this could flatten the potent, radical potential of the Black banjo and African American roots music renaissance.

To be presented at the annual meeting of the American Folklore Society in Albuquerque, Nw Mexico.