For the past month, Professor of Music Lydia Hamessley has been hitting the virtual road to talk about her book, Unlikely Angel: The Songs of Dolly Parton, published last fall by the University of Illinois Press.
In March, she was featured in interviews on two radio shows. She discussed the book and Dolly Parton’s songs with Dave “Doc” Kirby on his show “On The Bookshelf,” which airs on WTBF (Troy, Ala.). The interview is available as a podcast.
The following week, Hamessley was interviewed by musician and radio personality Chuck Prophet, whose show, “Trip In The Country,” airs on the online radio station Gimme Country.
Hamessley also participated in a panel discussion titled “Dolly Parton: Recent Books,” presented by the Center for Popular Music (CPM) at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU). Joining her were Leigh H. Edwards and Robert K. Oermann, fellow authors of recent books about Dolly Parton.
According to the MTSU website, CPM was established in 1985 and “is one of the world’s oldest and largest research centers devoted to the study of American folk and popular music.” Its mission is “to collect and preserve music history to provide credible resources to suit the research needs of college students, community members, and international researchers.”
Most recently, Hamessley was a featured guest in the Birthplace of Country Music’s virtual speaker series. She discussed Unlikely Angel, as well as Parton’s songwriting and how her background influenced those songs.
