A music academic has captured the attention of a popular BBC music programme after she wrote a short analytical course based on the work of country music icon and singer-songwriter Dolly Parton.
Now Dr Marie Thompson is to feature on the BBC Radio 4 Soul Music programme, which looks at the work of musicians who have a powerful emotional impact. The episode is due to air on Saturday 14th October at 10.30am.
It will focus on Dolly’s 50-year-old hit “I will always love you”, which reached international acclaim when it was covered by the late Whitney Huston and featured as the theme tune to the movie “The Bodyguard”, which Whitney starred in.
Wider music offering
Marie, who is a Senior Lecturer in Popular Music, said the reasons for writing the course were to broaden the musical offering at the OU and that means it can be studied by anyone.
The producer of Soul Music, Karen Gregor, invited Marie to take part in the episode, alongside other music professionals, after discovering Marie’s Dolly Parton short course.
Dolly, who was born in 1946 in Tennessee, has become a hugely popular country music star who enjoys universal appeal to this day.
Her most famous hits have included Jolene, 9 to 5 and Here You Come Again and according to a US YouGov poll, she remains the most popular country music singer there.
About the course, she added:
“You don’t have to have any previous experience of studying music, but it introduces some of the key concepts and ideas that are useful for studying popular music in a higher education context.”
The latest course spans six weeks and begins on 3 February 2024 with registrations closing on 18 January 2024.
In week one students will study Dolly’s life, career and music and her relationship to musical authenticity, gender and the poor white communities in southern United States.
Aside from picking up learning skills and tips on how to study, by the end of the course students will have an understanding of how music can be understood within different social and cultural contexts and understand the complex relationship between music and identity.
Picture: Shutterstock
