Associate Professor of Music (Music Industry)

Year Joined RCNJ: 2017

Contact Information

• Phone: 201-684-7218
• Email: creali@ramapo.edu
• Office: A-205
• Office Hours: Mon, Wed, and Thurs 10:00-11:00 PM

Bio:

I am a cultural musicologist who studies popular music by examining the relationships between local music scenes and the national music industry. My current research centers on the Muscle Shoals, Alabama, music industry. This work utilizes integrative frameworks that draw upon musicology, ethnomusicology, music theory, and complementary disciplines such as sociology, and American and African-American studies. Ultimately, my work on Muscle Shoals fills lacunae within the larger narrative of popular music studies by assessing salient musical characteristics and interpreting the long-lasting cultural effects of this Alabama community. I have presented at numerous conferences including the American Musicological Society, the Society for American Music, and the Society for Ethnomusicology. My published work appears in Southern Cultures, the New Grove Dictionary of American Music, and The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture. I have also toured the United States, Canada, and Western Europe as a guitar technician and tour manager for Chris Whitley, and as a guitar, bass, and drum tech for David Gray.

Education:

• Ph.D. In Musicology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Master of Arts in Musicology, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, NY
• Master of Science in Music Education K-12, Aaron Copland School of Music, City University of New York, Flushing, NY
• Bachelor of Arts with Honors, Gallatin Division, New York University, New York, NY

Courses Offered:

• MUSI 232 - HISTORY OF ROCK 'N' ROLL
• MUSI 263 - BUSINESS OF MUSIC
• MUSI 249 - AMERICAN MUSICAL TRADITIONS
• MUSI 336 - POP MUSIC STUDIES
• MUSI 301 - ADVANCED BUSINESS OF MUSIC
• MUSI 350 - MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY

Research Interests:

• Popular Music
• The Music Industry

Publications:

     Monographs

Music and Mystique in Muscle Shoals, University of Illinois Press, 2022  https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=45zfd3qs9780252044519

     Peer-reviewed Articles

 “Teaching Ethics in the Music Industry Curriculum,” Proceedings of the 2019 International Summit of the Music & Entertainment Industry Educators Association, 44-50; https://doi.org/10.25101/19.21

“‘Guided by Commercial Motives’: Selling Songwriting,” Journal of the Music & Entertainment Industry Educators Association 18, no. 1 (2018): 13-35

“The Allman Brothers Band: Conveying the Blues Idea,” Rock Music Studies, 5, no. 2 (2018): 105-123; doi.org/10.1080/19401159.2017.1416448

“Helping Pave the Road to FAME: Behind the Music in Muscle Shoals,” Southern Cultures 21, no. 3 (2015): 53-74 – http://www.southerncultures.org/article/helping-pave-the-road-to-fame/

    Book Reviews

“The Musical Life of Nashville’s William Pursell,” Notes, Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association, 77 no. 1 (2020): 138-141.

“Modern Records, Maverick Methods Technology and Process in Popular Music Record Production 1978-2000,” Popular Music, 38 no. 3 (2019), 564-566; doi:10.1017/S0261143019000370

“I Hear a Symphony,” Notes, Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association, 75, no. 2 (2018): 272-275

“The Little Book of Music Law,” Journal of the Music & Entertainment Industry Educators Association 17, no. 1 (2017): 161-167

“Muscle Shoals” (film review), Journal for the Society of American Music 11, no. 3 (2017): 384-387

“Bob Dylan: The Original Mono Recordings,” American Music 32, no. 3 (2015): 371-375

    Education Materials

Author and Revise Test Bank Questions. John Covach and Andrew Flory, What’s That Sound?, 5^th edition, New York: W.W. Norton, 2018

Author and Revise Test Bank Questions. Kristine Forney, Andrew Dell’Antonio, and Joseph Machlis, The Enjoyment of Music, 13th edition, New York: W.W. Norton, 2017

Accuracy checks for Online Listening and Chapter Quizzes. Kristine Forney, Andrew Dell’Antonio, and Joseph Machlis, The Enjoyment of Music: Essential Listening, 3rd edition, New York: W.W. Norton, 2016

Author and Revise Test Bank Questions. Roger Kamien, Music: An Appreciation, 7^th brief and 11^th comprehensive editions, McGraw-Hill, 2016

Author and Revise Test Bank Questions. Kristine Forney, Andrew Dell’Antonio, and Joseph Machlis, The Enjoyment of Music: Essential Listening, 3rd edition, New York: W.W. Norton, 2016

Author and Revise Course Pack and Study Space Quizzes. Kristine Forney, Andrew Dell’Antonio, and Joseph Machlis, The Enjoyment of Music, 12th edition, New York: W.W. Norton, 2014

Author and Revise online assessment questions, chapters 1-7. Jeremy Yudkin, Understanding Music, 8th edition, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2015

Author and Revise online assessment questions for 68 listening guides. Mark Evan Bonds, Listen to This, 3rd edition, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2014

    Encyclopedia Articles

“Muscle Shoals, Music, and Race,” and “Soul Music and Race.” In The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, Vol. 24, “Race,” ed. Thomas C. Holt and Laurie B. Green, 243, 249. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2013

“Muscle Shoals.” In New Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi          Garrett, 611-612. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013

Presentations:

“Learning the Music Industry at YouTube University,” Music Entertainment Industry Educators Association Summit, Las Vegas, NV, March 2022

“Legends and Legacy: Musical Tourism in Muscle Shoals,” Music Entertainment Industry Educators Association Summit, virtual event, October 3, 2020

“Teaching Ethics in the Music Industry Curriculum.” Music Entertainment Industry Educators Association Summit, Nashville, TN, March 22, 2019

“2000 Years of Music (History): The Muscle Shoals Mystique.” International Association for the Study of Popular Music, U.S., Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, March 9, 2019

“Guided by Commercial Motives: Examining Early-20th Century How to Write ‘Hit Song’    Manuals.” Music Entertainment Industry Educators Association Summit, Los Angeles, CA, March 23, 2018

“Hunting for R&B in the “swamp bottoms” with Jerry Wexler.” International Association for the Study  of Popular Music, U.S., Annual Conference, Cleveland, OH, February 25, 2017

“Southern Soul and Roots of Funk.” Guest Lecture, Shenandoah Conservatory, Shenandoah University, February 21, 2017

“Music & Myth: The (Hi)Story of Muscle Shoals.” Okra 2 Opera III: The Converse College Conference on Southern Culture, Spartanburg, SC, April 8, 2016

“Don’t Try To Take Me To a Disco.” Technology in Music: Production, Preservation, and Dissemination, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Invited panelist, May 22, 2014

“The Singing River: Music & Myth in Alabama.” International Association for the Study of  Popular Music, U.S., Annual Conference, Chapel Hill, NC, March 15, 2014

“Land of 1000 Dances: How Muscle Shoals Got Back Its Groove.” Society for American Music, Annual Conference, Lancaster, PA, March 8, 2014

“The Blues and Gospel Music.” America’s Music, Ackland Film Forum, Ackland Art  Museum, Chapel Hill, NC. Invited guest for post-film discussion, February 25, 2014

“Something in the Water: The Musical Shoals of Northwest Alabama.” Society for   Ethnomusicology, Annual Conference, Indianapolis, IN, November 15, 2013

“Women & the Blues.” Guest Lecture, Music Department, North Carolina State University, March 15, 2013

“Lost Soul: Making Music in Muscle Shoals.” University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Annual Graduate Student Research Symposium, February 26, 2013

Awarded Prize for Best Humanities Paper Presentation

“A Shot of Rhythm and Blues: Defining the Muscle Shoals Sound.” American Musicological Society, Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, November 2, 2012

“R&B and Soul.” Guest Lecture, Music Department, North Carolina State University, October 12, 2012

“Echo & Groove: Elements of the Muscle Shoals Sound.” South Central Graduate Music Student Consortium, Annual Conference, Charlottesville, VA, September 29, 2012

“Sweet [Soul Music] Home [of] Alabama: Muscle Shoals, Music, and Race.” Okra 2 Opera I: The Converse College Conference on Southern Culture, Spartanburg, SC, April 13, 2012

“I’ll Take You There: Music and Mystique in Muscle Shoals.” Society for American Music, Annual Conference, Charlotte, NC, March 16, 2012

“I’ll Take You There: Music and Mystique in Muscle Shoal.” South Central Graduate Music Student Consortium, Annual Conference, Chapel Hill, NC, September 17, 2011

“Selling Music for Profit: English Language How-to Write Song Texts.” American   Musicological Society–Southeast Chapter Meeting, Charlotte, NC, March 18, 2011

“Fame by Association: The Legacy of Palestrina.” American Musicological Society– Southeast Chapter Meeting, Greensboro, NC, March 27, 2010

“Blues-Rock, Progressive: A Style Analysis of the Allman Brothers Band.” American    Musicological Society–Greater New York Chapter Meeting, New York, NY, January 24, 2009

Selected Awards, Fellowships, and Grants:

Research Fellowship

Center for Popular Music Studies, Case Western University, Cleveland, OH

Grant to conduct research at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Library & Archive, 2016

Short-term Fellowship

Frances S. Summersell Center for the Study of the South, University of Alabama

Grant to conduct research in the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library and the A.S. Williams III Americana Collection, 2015

Dissertation Completion Fellowship

The Graduate School, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2013

Lucas Miller Glass Summer Research Fellowship

The Graduate School, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2012

Research Grant

Rock and Popular Music Institute, Case Western University, Cleveland, OH

Grant to conduct research at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Archive, 2012

Summer Research Grant

Center for the Study of the American South, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Grant to conduct research in Muscle Shoals, AL, 2011

James W. Pruett Summer Research Fellowships in Music at the Library of Congress,Washington, D.C.

Department of Music, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Processed the Morton Gould Collection and the Roy Harris Papers;

Conducted research in the Robert Sonkin Alabama/New Jersey Collection, 2010