Southern History Remixed by Michael T. Bertrand is out now, examining how popular music shaped and reflected the social history of the United States South from the late nineteenth century through the rise of rock ’n’ roll. Moving from jazz and barn dance radio to gospel, Black radio programming, and rhythm and blues, the book positions music as a central force in the region’s cultural development rather than a sidebar to political history.
Bertrand traces a long-running struggle over southern identity, showing how music both reinforced and challenged white supremacy as the region wrestled with race, class, and change. Rock ’n’ roll emerges as a working-class, biracial form that heightened racial anxieties while cutting across entrenched cultural lines, culminating in a close examination of Elvis Presley’s popularity within a segregated society. By treating music as an active participant in history, the book reframes how cultural expression intersects with power, resistance, and social transformation.