Soundscapes of the People: A Musical Ethnography of Pueblo, Colorado

FAIN: RFW-286690-22

University of Colorado, Boulder (Boulder, CO 80303-1058)
Susan Thomas (Project Director: September 2021 to present)

Ethnographic interviews and participant observation leading to publications and presentations on how music has constructed identity among the multiple ethnic communities living in Pueblo, Colorado. (30 months)

Soundscapes of the People: A Musical Ethnography of Pueblo, Colorado” identifies music as an active force in identity formation and cultural resilience. This endeavor to explore the rich musical heritage of Pueblo will result in the first comprehensive study of the city’s musical culture. In exploring the protagonism of music in Puebloan identity, we will reveal music’s role as a means of social navigation through major 20th-21st century issues of industrialization, migration, urbanization, and the impacts of late capitalism. In doing so, we center the American West—a region long neglected in American music studies—in the history and experience of American music and the cultures and identities that it expresses and produces. Collaboration with local stakeholders will inform our gathering of ethnographic data and our creation of a free and accessible digital archive of interviews. This research will result in multiple publications and presentations for academic and general audiences.