Murder ballads, a subset of the ballad tradition, are narrative songs that depict homicides. Many American murder ballads are based loosely on real-life events. In this webinar, we will discuss some of the most famous murder ballads, the stories behind them, and the Tennessee artists who performed them. We will also delve into the misogyny that is ingrained in American music and how this mirrors our desensitization to violence within our culture.

Karen Hogg is a music educator, writer, and multi-instrumentalist. She is the author of several books, including the upcoming Berklee Ukulele Basics (Berklee Press/Hal Leonard). Hogg coordinated The Murder Ballad Project: Reframing Songs of Violence, a concert that brought together women musicians and helped raise money for the domestic violence shelter in her area.

Tennessee 101 is funded in part by a grant from Humanities Tennessee, an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.