Lecturer
Office: TMH 226
Email: ks210@txstate.edu
Education:
Ph.D., 2005, University of Texas at Austin, American Studies
M.A., 2001, University of Texas at Austin, American Studies
B.A., 1993, Brigham Young University, English
Specialization:
American History
Research Interests:
Popular Music History, American Cultural History, Media Studies, Ethnomusicology.
Kim Jefferson Simpson is a musician, writer, scholar, and radio programmer based in Austin, Texas. He is the author of Early ’70s Radio: The American Formatting Revolution, and runs music history blogs such as the Song ID Blog and Early 70s Radio.com. He has hosted “The International Folk Bazaar” on Austin’s KOOP Radio since 2008 and has also worked at KUTX in Austin. He records his own music as a songwriter and guitarist , which is available at kimsimpson.us. He has taught courses in music and culture at the University of Texas and Texas State University and has appeared as a commentator on documentaries such as “I Can Go For That: The Smooth World of Yacht Rock” (BBC) and “Music’s Greatest Mysteries” (AXS TV).
Selected Writings
Early '70s Radio: The American Formatting Revolution, New York: Continuum, 2011.
“Top 40 Democracy: The Rival Mainstreams of American Music” (Book Review), Journal of the Society for American Music, Vol. 11 No. 4 (520-522), 2017.
“Country Radio’s Growing Pains in the Music Trades, 1967-1977,” American Music, Fall 2009.