Duchan describes his talk as follows: “This lecture addresses two kinds of places found in Billy Joel’s songs, geographical (specifically the American West and New York) and social or cultural (suburbia). Material drawn from several personal interviews with the composer informs the analyses of representative works, illustrating their connections to broader traditions in American music, such as the use of Tin Pan Alley forms and jazz harmonies in ‘New York State of Mind.’ Moreover, one finds, in songs like ‘No Man’s Land’ (1993), that Joel’s work just as often illuminates the profound social and cultural changes affecting American life in the second half of the twentieth century. Thus, Joel’s music offers a commentary on American life and culture rooted in both his personal experience and the time during which it was composed.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Joshua S. Duchan, Ph.D., is an ethnomusicologist specializing in American popular music. He has authored two books, Powerful Voices: The Musical and Social World of Collegiate A Cappella (2012) and Billy Joel: America’s Piano Man (2017), and several journal articles and book chapters. He has also presented his work at meetings of the American Musicological Society, the Society for American Music, the Society for Ethnomusicology, the International Council for Traditional Music, the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, the international Art of Record Production conference, and at various conferences on and festivals of a cappella music. He received his doctorate from the University of Michigan.

Dr. Duchan’s current research examines the music of American singer-songwriter Billy Joel. His recent book on the subject, Billy Joel: America’s Piano Man, which draws on several interviews with the artist, has been called “a must-read analysis of the work of one our most popular performers” (Library Journal 6/1/17). As part of his research, Dr. Duchan was also the co-organizer of “‘It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me’: The Music and Lyrics of Billy Joel — a Public Musicology Conference,” held in October 2016 at Colorado College with support from the American Musicological Society, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. The symposium, during which Dr. Duchan and co-organizer Ryan Bañagale conducted a live interview with Mr. Joel as the keynote event, was featured in the New York Times.

Presently, Dr. Duchan serves as Associate Professor of Music and Director of Graduate Studies for the Department of Music at Wayne State University, where he teaches courses in music history, world music, popular music, and ethnomusicology. Before joining the faculty at Wayne State University, he taught at Kalamazoo College and Bowling Green State University. Outside of teaching, he remains an active participant in the regional and national a cappella scene as an adjudicator, arranger, clinician, and producer.