Our Team

Holly Riley

Postdoctoral Teaching, Research, and Mentoring Fellow

Contact

Office
Knowles 126
Email
holly.riley@mso.umt.edu
Office Hours

Spring 2024:

Knowles 126

Tuesdays 1-3pm, Wednesdays 2-3pm, Fridays 2-3pm and by appointment

Website
https://www.hollyrileymusic.com/

Personal Summary

Dr. Holly Riley is a recent PhD graduate in Ethnomusicology from Florida State University. She currently works as a Postdoctoral Teaching, Research, and Mentoring Fellow at University of Montana’s Davidson Honors College.

Her research areas include institutionalization of American vernacular musics, cultural changes in current perceptions of violence and safety in country music,  and gender, identity, and power structures in music and culture. She also works professionally as a fiddle player, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist and regularly teaches lessons, courses, and workshops relating to multi-genre fiddle styles, improvisation, and stylistic playing. 

You can find her sitting on the front porch with a banjo or hiking with her dog Willie in her spare time. 

 

Education

Ph.D. Ethnomusicology, Florida State University 

M.M. Ethnomusicology, Florida State University

B.M. Music Education, University of North Carolina at Greensboro 

 

Courses Taught

Spring 2023 Courses 

American Roots Music Ensemble

Ways of Knowing 

Music and Social Justice 

Arts, Culture, and Social Justice in Ireland 

Past Courses

MUSI 162A: American Roots Music Ensemble

MUSI 416: American Roots Music 

GLI Capstone Development 

MOLLI: Intro to Musicology

HONR 391: Ecomusicology: Music, Climate, and Culture

HONR 320E: Art of Inquiry

 

Publications

In Press

“Relational Peer Review Practices in the Honors Research Methods Classroom: Towards a Scaffolded and Multidisciplinary Model.” Honors in Practice. Co-authored with Brenna Spurling.

Published

Review: “Whisperin’ Bill Anderson: An Unprecedented Life in Country Music.” SAM Bulletin 46, no. 3 (2022): 6. 

Riley, Holly. Review of Unlikely Angel: The Songs of Dolly Parton, by Lydia Hamessley. Contemporary Women’s Writing 15, no. 3 (2021): 422–23.

Riley, Holly. “Safe and Sound: 21st Century Country Music and Changing Perceptions of Violence.” PhD Diss. Florida State University, 2020.

Riley, Holly. “Community in the Academy: Musicianship and Transformation in University Old Time Ensembles and Local Music Scenes.” Masters Thesis, Florida State University, 2017.

Riley, Holly, Rebecca MacLeod, and Matthew Libera. “Low Latency Audio Video: Potentials for Collaborative Music Making Through Distance Learning.” Update: Applications of Research in Music Education 34, no. 3 (June 2016): 15–23.