MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University will host legendary music producer Joe Boyd — who has worked with artists like Pink Floyd, Nick Drake and REM — at 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19, as part of the Distinguished Lecture Series.

Boyd will give a free public talk about his latest book, “And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: A Journey Through Global Music,” which illuminates the histories and collaborations that shaped popular music worldwide. The new release is a follow-up to his memoir, “White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s,” published in 2006.

“He’s an incredible writer — a really astute observer, witty and clear-eyed — and he brings a strong sense of history and a deep respect for the music he’s helped bring into the world,” said MTSU history professor Mark Doyle, who was instrumental in bringing Boyd to campus. “As soon as I learned he had a new book on global music history, I knew he’d be the perfect person to come to MTSU.”

The lecture will take place in Room 102 of the Business and Aerospace Building, 1642 MTSU Blvd. A searchable campus parking map is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParkingMap.  

“Roots of Rhythm” is a sweeping history compiled from more than a decade of travel, research, interviews and deep listening that explores centuries of fascinating backstories to global sounds. 

Boyd shows how personalities, events and politics from Havana, Cuba, and Kingston, Jamaica, to Budapest, Hungary, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, are as colorful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, New York and Liverpool, England. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock ’n’ roll would never have happened if it weren’t for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon.

“So many of our faculty and students are steeped in music in one way or another that I knew they’d leap at a chance to hear from a legend in the field,” Doyle said. “We also work really hard at MTSU to expand our students’ horizons by encouraging them to engage with cultures beyond our own.

“What better topic to inspire a little cultural exploration than global music history?”

Following the talk, there will be a Q&A and book signing.

For more information on Boyd’s lecture, email Doyle at Mark.Doyle@mtsu.edu.

The event is sponsored by the MTSU Distinguished Lecture Fund with support from the Department of History, College of Liberal Arts, Department of Recording Industry and the Center for Popular Music.

— Nancy DeGennaro (Nancy.DeGennaro@mtsu.edu)