Cynthia Corinne Boucher

“A Different Starting Place”: DIY festival cycles as queer feminist music scenes by Cynthia Corinne Boucher A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Music University of Alberta © Cynthia Corinne Boucher, 2018 Abstract Although music scholarship has addressed queer topics in the past, a focus on lived experiences and community interactions has been notably absent in the literature. This work considers some of the challenges that may be inhibiting the emergence of a queer focus for fieldwork-based music studies: the tendency to read queer subjects in exclusively comparative ways—such as in relation to their contemporary non-queer subjects and environments—or through specific unrelated venues or events. As a remedy, I suggest that ethnomusicological methods may benefit from understanding queer musical practices as rooted in ongoing queer cultural production, an optic which is both historically informed and inwardly focused toward queer communities. Drawing on and expanding concepts from popular music studies, queer scenes are introduced and extended as queer cycles, connecting musical activities across geographic locations (translocal) and across time (transtemporal). The discussion then uses this type of inquiry in its reading of three music-focused queer feminist scenes between 1976 and 2016, including Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival, Riot Grrrl, and Ladyfest, to explore this history from both linear and non-linear perspectives. An in-depth look at one translocal queer feminist music festival scene, called Not Enough, comprises the core of my ethnographic research, providing a sense of how a scene-based approach to queer music can support ethnographic studies. Founded in Portland, Oregon where seven consecutive festivals were ii staged (2010-2016), Not Enough festivals spread in later years to New Orleans (2013-2014), Winnipeg (2013), and Edmonton (2015-2016). I show how Not Enough festivals negotiate their unique festival identity while still retaining core elements that closely associate them with other queer feminist scenes, and apply the previously introduced framework to do so, using material collected from interviews and participant observation, as well as archival and previously published resources. Finally, I argue that an examination of the ends of festivals, not previously considered significant in the literature, are crucial for understanding the larger cycle of queer feminist music scenes. This discussion highlights the complexities of lived experience and the elements of cultural history that are so key to ethnomusicological approaches, but which have been lacking in much of the music scholarship on queer scenes to date. iii Preface This thesis is an original work by Cynthia Corinne Boucher. The research project, of which this thesis is a part, received research ethics approval from the University of Alberta Research Ethics Board, Project Name “Making Space: an ethnographic study of Not Enough festivals”, No. Pro00067791, January 19, 2017. iv Acknowledgements In the last twenty-two months my graduate work went from a hesitant departmental query for readmission to defence, all with what I felt was relative ease. For this feat, my greatest thanks undoubtedly go to Julia Byl. I am thankful for her willingness to adopt this stray student, who was wandering door to door with tight timelines and only a vague project idea. Julia’s enthusiasm and big- picture thinking have been absolutely vital to this project. As well, I am grateful for my committee members, David Gramit and Brian Fauteux, who both provided thoughtful readings of my work, making suggestions that helped to shape my thinking and writing. I owe additional thanks to David for guidance during my readmission process and for all of his assistance with “the details” that I know was supporting me indirectly over these past two years. This work was only possible because of the many queer and feminist influences in my life. Thanks to all the folks who were cheerleaders for this project and my success. Thanks to Mickey Wilson, for embracing my zest for research and introducing me to Not Enough festivals. Huge portions of this work would not have been possible without the generous time provided by Not Enough organizers and participants. I am so grateful to Joseph Bonnell, Sheana Corbridge, Kendra Cowley, Tasmia Nishat, Jacqueline Ohm, and Stephanie Olsen for sharing their experiences with me. I gratefully acknowledge support provided by the Government of Canada through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Fellowship. I also received ongoing support from the University of Alberta through the Provost Doctoral Award, Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship, Sarah and Martin Gouin Family Graduate Scholarship, the Mary Louise Imrie Graduate Student Award, and the President’s Doctoral Prize. Thank you also to the Department of Music at the University of Alberta for the financial support of many teaching opportunities and assistantship hours. Of course, these would not have been possible without the patient guidance of my RA and TA supervisors, David Gramit, Henry Klumpenhouwer, and Maryam Moshaver, It’s likely I learned as much from the hands-on work as from the many hours of well-chosen readings these mentors assigned. For that, I am more than grateful. Thank you also to my employer, NorQuest College, for the additional financial support provided during the writing of these pages. I am privileged to have enduring friendships with some endlessly supportive, wildly creative, and unquestionably brilliant people. This past year was both challenging and exciting, a whirlwind that, without the support of this chosen family, I would have surely failed. I am so lucky to have such a wealth of love and support. v Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................... ii Preface ................................................................................................................ iv Acknowledgements ............................................................................................. v Table of Contents ............................................................................................... vi List of Figures .................................................................................................. viii Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................... 1 From Audience to Elusive Moose ....................................................................... 1 (Queer) Music Festivals ...................................................................................... 5 Old or New: What is Not Enough? ..................................................................... 8 Overview of Chapters ....................................................................................... 13 Chapter 2: Queer Ethnomusicology – Not a Thing Yet .................................. 16 Queers: The Word ............................................................................................. 16 Queer Contributions, Ethnomusicological Contributions ................................. 22 Challenges in “Queer Ethnomusicology” ......................................................... 29 Shaping a New Queer Ethnomusicology....................................................... 34 Locating Queer Music................................................................................... 40 The Shifting Place of Queer Culture ............................................................. 45 Meeting the Challenge of Queerness in Ethnomusicology ........................... 47 Chapter 3: Scenes and Cycles ............................................................................ 50 Focus on Festivals ............................................................................................. 51 Primary Events in this Study............................................................................. 53 Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival ............................................................... 53 Riot Grrrl ...................................................................................................... 54 Ladyfest ......................................................................................................... 55 Not Enough Festival ..................................................................................... 56 Subculture and Scenes ...................................................................................... 56 Subcultures .................................................................................................... 57 Scenes ............................................................................................................ 62 Translocality & Cycles ..................................................................................... 70 Translocality ................................................................................................. 70 Cycles ............................................................................................................ 73 Chapter 4: Introducing queer feminist music scene cycles ............................. 78 First Queer Feminist Scene(s) ...................................................................... 83 Queer and Feminist Scenes: Building a lifelong intersection ...................... 86 Describing a Queer Feminist Music Scene ......................................................

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