Southern Music Research Center

The Birmingham, Alabama, Southern Music Research Center, founded in 2023 by folklorist and music historian Burgin Mathews, is “a new 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization devoted to the documentation, preservation, and public presentation of the American South’s diverse music histories and ongoing forms of musical expression.” In April, its new website will debut with “the Southern Music Research Center Digital Archive […] a free public database of materials – including photographs, rare recordings, oral histories, and visual art – documenting the broadest range of musical expression in the South.” Additionally, the organization will host Endless Highway, “a narrative history podcast exploring some of the unsung pioneers and less-traveled backroads of American music,” and will offer digitization services for selected collections and archival materials related to Southern music.” Visit southernmusicresearch.org after mid-April to learn more.