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Professor of Music Lydia Hamessley was a panelist for the Old-Time Music in the 21st Century Unconference sponsored by the Center for Popular Music at Middle Tennessee State University.

“A radiant entertainer finally gets her due as a composer and lyricist—and champion of resilience amid troubles.” Thus began a review in The Wall Street Journal of three books about Dolly Parton, including Professor of Music Lydia Hamessley’s Unlikely Angel – The Songs of Dolly Parton.

A clawhammer banjo player and a scholar of Appalachian old-time and bluegrass music that focuses on women, Professor of Music Lydia Hamessley was the natural choice to write Unlikely Angel – The Songs of Dolly Parton.

Professor of Music Lydia Hamessley was recently featured in Biography: Dolly Parton, a 90-minute documentary that aired earlier this month on A&E.

Professor of Music Lydia Hamessley was recently interviewed for a Dutch newspaper article on the surging popularity in recent years of Dolly Parton and her music.

Professor of Music Lydia Hamessley recently presented “‘Coat of Many Colors’: Dolly Parton’s Memory Palace of Healing” at the Feminist Theory and Music Conference at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

“That’s a woman at work,” Steve Buckingham, renowned music producer, said as he shared a photograph of Dolly Parton from her first day of recording the album The Grass Is Blue. As Buckingham clicked through the images of himself, Parton, and the work they did together, the audience listened to the tales with the respect that Buckingham seemed to reserve for Parton. His talk on Feb. 26 offered a look into both the world of music production and Parton’s iconic career.

Professor of Music Lydia Hamessley recently presented a paper titled “Elizabethan Traces in Appalachia? How Critics (Mis)Understand Dolly Parton’s Songs and Voice” at the national meeting of the Society for American Music in Kansas City, Mo.

Professor of Music Lydia Hamessley presented a paper titled “Elizabethan Traces in Appalachia? How Critics (Mis)Understand Dolly Parton’s Songs and Voice,” at the national meeting of the American Musicological Society (AMS).

Professor of Music Lydia Hamessley recently participated in an online panel hosted by Turner Classic Movies (TCM).