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The 39th International Country Music Conference will kick off on Thursday June 1.
The International Country Music Conference (ICMC) provides scholars an
opportunity to share their work in all aspects of country music.
ICMC broadly defines country music to include variants which share common
historical and cultural roots ranging from Americana, alt.country, Bluegrass, Cajun,
Country Rock, Crossover, and Honky Tonk to the Nashville Sound,
New Traditionalist, Old Time Country, and Western Swing.
ICMC is truly international with scholars from Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech
Republic, France, Germany, Japan, Norway, and the United Kingdom participating.
The conference averages around 100 attendees with all presentations in
one room, making it a welcoming community for first timers.
This page is mainly to promote the virtual option of attendance.
You can see the schedule of presenters with this link:
Registration uses the MarketPlace system adopted by Tennessee state universities.
There are two ways to attend/register in 2023:
- ICMC friends who cannot attend ICMC 2023 in person due to schedule,
distance, health or other issues now may choose a VIRTUAL option (Zoom) for $50.
You can watch and listen to the various presentations during the conference.
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If you are able to go to Nashville, you can register to attend in person for $200.
For more information about this conference, visit the website. Information about hotels,
and other details will be found there.
Webmaster Note: I first attended this conference in 2001 and only
knew one person via email who found my site. I've attended the conference several times
since then and enjoyed it immensely. I've even contributed essays to their annual
publication, "International Country Music Journal." One year, due to the pandemic,
it was a virtual conference using Zoom. I pleaded a case to provide a virtual option
so those of us who cannot make the journey, can watch and participate from afar
using today's technology. There are special sessions, a Key note session,
the Charles K. Wolfe Memorial Panel as well as other sessions/preentations. Of course
one downside of attending virtually, you can't be a part of the informal picking sessions
that occur during the conference. I did take my dobro to Nashville one year and participated
in the session at RCA's Studio B. Now I can say I picked in the same studio that Elvis
or Charley Pride recorded in. Then, a musician friend invited me to attend the Sunday
night open picking program at the Station Inn. Now that was something. But I'm sorry,
a dobro does not get heard when there are five banjo players in the group. That's good,
because maybe I was out of key. It's fun! It's informative! Who knows, you may make
a new friend or two!
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