Dr. Neil Rosenberg
Dr. Neil Rosenberg
Professor Emeritus
Department of Folkore
Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John's, NL
A1B 3X8
Phone: 709-864-8402
Email: nvros@mun.ca
A native of the western United States, Rosenberg has a BA in
History from Oberlin College and the MA and PhD in Folklore from
Indiana University. He is Professor Emeritus of Folklore at
Memorial University of Newfoundland, where he taught from September
1968 until his retirement in September 2004.
Rosenberg specialized in the study of contemporary folk music
traditions, investigating the ways in which popular music interacts
with local and regional folk music traditions, and examining
processes of cultural revival.
He conducted research in Canada and the United States, focusing
upon the lives and music of professional, semi-professional and
amateur old-time, bluegrass, country and folk musicians. A
performing musician since childhood, Rosenberg utilized his skills
and experiences in bluegrass, country, folk, jazz, classical and
experimental music to gain a closer understanding of the processes
he studied.
His books include Bluegrass: A History (1985), the
definitive work on that form of music, which was reprinted with a
new preface for its 20th Anniversary Edition in 2005. Other books
include Transforming Tradition (1993), a collection of
studies on North American folk music revivals; and Bluegrass
Odyssey: A Documentary in Pictures and Words (2001),
co-authored with photographer Carl Fleischhauer of the Library of
Congress. In 1996 he began working with the late Charles Wolfe on
The Music of Bill Monroe, a bio-discography published in
2007 that updates and expands his long out-of-print Bill Monroe
and His Blue Grass Boys: An Illustrated Discography (1974). He
has published over sixty articles and review essays. In 1981 he
originated the column "Thirty Years Ago This Month" in
Bluegrass Unlimited, and wrote it until 1993.
Formerly Recorded Sound Reviews Editor of the Journal of
American Folklore, he has edited and written notes for many
recordings, including a contribution to the brochure for the
Smithsonian/Folkways reissue of Harry Smith's Anthology of
American Folk Music for which he won a 1997 Grammy Award. His
most recent project is Saturday Night Jamboree on CBC Newfoundland,
which he produced for Memorial University's Research Centre for the
Study of Music, Media and Place.
Rosenberg is a Fellow of the American Folklore Society, and
recipient of the Marius Barbeau Medal for lifetime achievement from
the Folklore Studies Association of Canada.
In 2004, Rosenberg's friends and colleagues from the worlds of
folklore studies and bluegrass music honored him with a collection
of their essays and articles in the book Bean Blossom to
Bannerman: Odyssey of a Folklorist. Edited by Martin Lovelace,
Peter Narváez and Diane Tye, this MUN Folklore and Language
Publication includes a brief biography of Rosenberg and a full
bibliography of his writings.
