Travis Stimeling (they/them; PhD, musicology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) was a professor of musicology and director of the West Virgina University Bluegrass and Old-Time Bands. A scholar of commercial country and Appalachian traditional music, they have published numerous books and articles, including such books as Nashville Cats: Record Production in Music City (Oxford University Press, 2020), The Opioid Epidemic and U.S. Culture: Expression, Art, and Politics in an Age of Addiction (West Virginia University Press, 2020), Songwriting in Contemporary West Virginia: Profiles and Reflections (West Virginia University Press, 2018), Fifty Cents and a Box Top: The Creative Life of Nashville Session Musician Charlie McCoy (West Virginia University Press, 2017), The Oxford Handbook of Country Music (Oxford University Press, 2017), The Country Music Reader (Oxford University Press, 2015), and Cosmic Cowboys and New Hicks: The Countercultural Sounds of Austin's Progressive Country Music Scene (Oxford University Press, 2011). They also play and sing a wide range of traditional Appalachian and country styles.
