UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara Musical Performance and Trans Identity: Narratives of Selfhood, Embodied Identities, and Musicking A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Music by Randy Mark Drake Committee in charge: Professor Timothy J. Cooley, Chair Professor David Novak Professor Mireille Miller-Young Professor George Lipsitz June 2018 The dissertation of Randy Mark Drake is approved. _____________________________________________ David Novak _____________________________________________ Mireille Miller-Young ____________________________________________________________ George Lipsitz _____________________________________________ Timothy J. Cooley, Committee Chair May 2018 Musical Performance and Trans Identity: Narratives of Selfhood, Embodied Identities, and Musicking Copyright © 2018 by Randy Mark Drake iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I gratefully acknowledge Timothy Cooley, the chair of this dissertation and my advisor, for his gifts of guidance and his ability to encourage all of my academic endeavors. Tim has a passion for ethnomusicology, teaching, and writing, and he enjoys sharing his knowledge in ways that inspired me. He was always interested in my work and my performances. I am grateful for his gentle nudging and prodding regarding my writing. My first year at UCSB was also the beginning of a deep engagement with academic writing and thinking, and I had much to learn. Expanding my research boundaries was made simpler and more stimulating thanks to his consistent support and encouragement. I thank Tim for his mentorship, compassion, and kindness. David Novak never ceased amazing me with his intellectual curiosity and probing questions when it came to my own work. His dissertation workshop kept me focused on my research problems, and his tenacity in questioning those problems contributed greatly to my intellectual growth. His inspiring input always changed my thinking for the better and contributed to a more robust dissertation. I thank David for sharing his vast knowledge of ethnomusicological and anthropological scholarship and teaching. Mireille Miller-Young allowed me to be myself in the Feminist Studies Department at UCSB. When I began taking courses in this department, I questioned my ability to understand the incredible work of Feminist Studies scholars, the people they work with, and the impact they have made to the academic, sociocultural, and political world we inhabit. Mireille’s infectious, positive energy kept me intellectually stimulated and emotionally iv connected to the work of Feminist Studies scholars and activists. I thank her for the ability to see past my insecurities and her passion in encouraging my research. I was both honored and humbled to participate in a course on Black Epistemologies taught by George Lipsitz. His global and cogent contributions to the intellectual vitality of Black Studies was clearly articulated and made concrete in the classroom. I appreciated his deep engagement in how we gain epistemological and ontological knowledge through the work of musicians and artists. I thank George for modeling and participating in a life of critical inquiry that we as scholars and artists strive for in our own work. If it were not my earliest mentor in ethnomusicology, Ray Briggs, from California State University, Long Beach, I would not have pursued an ethnomusicology tract. Ray was pivotal in a decision to write about Jennifer Leitham for my master’s thesis in Jazz Studies. I credit Ray for sparking my love of ethnomusicology, for gently nudging and encouraging me in this direction, and his wisdom in foreseeing connections between trans individuals and a burgeoning sociocultural and sociopolitical project. I am also indebted to Kristin Forney for helping me succeed in learning about research methods during my first year at Cal State Long Beach. I am also grateful for unofficial advisors at UCSB who offered guidance and shared knowledge throughout my graduate studies, especially Barbara Tomlinson, Brian Donnelly, Casey Walsh, Danielle Harlow, Edwina Barvosa, Eileen Boris, Mary Hancock, and Stefanie Tcharos. I would especially like to thank Ruth Hellier-Tinoco for clearly laying out my research project at a time I needed clarity. Various individuals at UCSB kept me engaged in a medley of conversations whether academic or otherwise. I am grateful for several individuals during my first few years at UCSB who mitigated my uneasiness about pursuing this academic endeavor, especially v Barbara Taylor, Dennis Russell, Erin Putnam, George Blake, Jason Gabriel, Jon Nathan, Philip Murphy, and Rob Wallace. There were graduate students who continued to offer support, stimulating conversation, and chances to experience joy. For this I am deeply thankful to Alex Blue V, Alicia Mastromonaco, Aviva Fields (Milner-Brage), Eugenia Conte, Jared Holton, Jason Busniewski, Kate Morics, Liza Munk, Max Jack, Nicholas Norton, Nicholas Ragheb, Sarah Latanyshyn, Stephanie Choi, and Sunaina Kale. John and Karen Robertson provided me with space and companionship. They offered me a place to live, but more importantly, their friendship, love, and inquisitiveness about my research helped me to stay grounded. I am grateful they opened their home and hearts to me the entire time I worked on my degree at UCSB. No graduate department at a university survives without its graduate advisor. Carly Yartz is one of the most gifted, caring, and skilled advisors and advocates for graduate students at UCSB. I thank her for keeping me organized through the entire degree process. I also thank Zarah Ersoff, who was the undergraduate advisor while I was active on campus, for several conversations about my research and her consistent “hellos” whenever I entered the music department corridors. Lisa Berry and Kim McShane-DeBacco were indispensible in my work toward the CCUT program (Certificate in College and University Teaching). I thank them for enthusiastically supporting my passion to improve my teaching. I can never fully express the respect, admiration, and love I have for Jennifer Leitham. It is with great honor that I continue to perform with her on a regular basis. This dissertation would not be possible without this relationship we have, both professionally and as friends. I thank Jennifer for her continued support, friendship, and musicking. Jennifer made possible my connection to Joe Stevens. I am grateful to Joe for his willingness to vi discuss any and all things related to his identity and music. I also thank the members of TCLA and TGC for honoring me with their life stories and sharing themselves so freely. I hope this project respects the research participants narratives and brings forth an awareness of issues they face. Any shortcomings in this dissertation are entirely my own. I have been blessed with a patient family while I have pursued this academic path. Our two children, Austin and Carrie, let me be both father and academic scholar. All three of us are finishing degrees at the same time. I love them dearly and thank them for allowing me to spend this time in academia. My amazing wife, Beth, patiently watched the development of my academic career and helped me in ways I can never repay. I am grateful and blessed to have a partner in life who encourages and supports, in so many different ways, my academic journey. Beth made it possible for all three of us—husband, son, and daughter—to pursue academic life. I do not take this for granted. I survived this phase of my life because our relationship is built on trust, love, communication, commitment, and faith. I thank her for sacrifices and choices she made in order for me to have this academic career. vii VITA OF RANDY M DRAKE June 2018 ACADEMIC TRAINING, DEGREES University of California, Santa Barbara, 2010-2018 Ph.D. in Music, Ethnomusicology with Doctoral Emphasis in Feminist Studies Certificate in College and University Teaching (CCUT) California State University, Long Beach, 2008-2010 M.M. in Jazz Studies University of North Texas, Denton, TX, 1976-1984 B. M. in Jazz Studies, cum laude PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT September 1996-Present Drum set instruction and curriculum development, California State University, Long Beach January1992-Present Drum set and tabla drum instruction, Home Studio, La Crescenta, CA August 2010-December 2016 Teaching Associate, Teaching Assistant, Department of Music and Department of Feminist Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara August 2006-June 2010 Jazz band rhythm sectionals coaching, Crescenta Valley High School, La Crescenta, CA, August 1984-1987 Drum set instruction and percussion department curriculum development, University of North Texas, Denton, TX CONFERENCE PAPERS “Voice, Visibility and the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles.” Society for Ethnomusicology, Washington, D.C., November 2016. “Trans Identity and Stance: Multiple Positionalities and Musical Meaning Through Lived Experience.” Society for Ethnomusicology, Austin, TX, December 2015. “The Reorientation of Identities in Jazz and Traditional Country Music: Queer Phenomenology and Trans Identity.” Society for Ethnomusicology, Pittsburgh, PA, November 2014. viii “Pussy Riot’s Performance Art: A Cultural Production of Dissent.” Society for Ethnomusicology, Indianapolis, IN, November 2013. “A Journey of Identity: Jennifer Leitham’s Challenge to Normative Gender Hierarchies of Jazz.” American Musicological Society, Society for Ethnomusicology, Society for Music Theory, New Orleans, LA, November 2012. “White