Country music historian Bill Malone to discuss “Three Chords and the Truth” at Texas State

Acclaimed country music historian Bill Malone will hold a discussion, “Three Chords and the Truth,” followed by a book signing at Texas State University on Wednesday, February 26, as part of the Common Experience.

Malone’s presentation will be held at the Wittliff Collections on the 7th floor of Alkek Library 5:30-7:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Malone literally wrote the book on country music. He was the first scholar to place the genre in historical context with his classic book, Country Music U.S.A., in 1968. More than 50 years later, he remains a preeminent voice in the field — he was the only historian featured in Ken Burns’ Country Music series (2019) on PBS.

Texas State played a significant role in this career arc, as Malone taught in the Department of History while compiling his first book, and the Wittliff Collections contributed materials to Burns’s well-received documentary.

The program is sponsored by the Center for Texas Music History, Center for the Study of the Southwest, Common Experience and the Wittliff Collections. For more information, visit https://events.txstate.edu/common-experience?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D141697758.