Boise State University
11/14/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 11/14/2024 14:23
Idaho’s soundtrack: A partnership documents Idaho’s music legacy
By Anna Webb
Senior Cora Lee Oxley, Special Collections and Archives at Albertsons Library and The Record Exchange - Boise's independent music shop since 1977 - have united to preserve local music and its history.
Oxley, a former Record Exchange employee, grew up in Letha, Idaho. She is majoring in humanities and cultural studies and will be that program's first graduate in December 2024.
Idaho's music history and the role of The Record Exchange deserve to be documented, Oxley said. "There is such a wealth of knowledge, expertise and passion, in the store's employees, in customers and the musicians who play there."
The project, which began for Oxley as an assignment in the class Humanities at Work, invites musicians based in Idaho, or with ties to the Gem State, to submit their music. Special Collections and Archives is providing a home for the collection.
"I was so excited about this project, because we have talked about music and how we could do more to preserve it," said Professor Cheryl Oestreicher, head of Special Collections and Archives. The university has existing music collections - folksinger Rosalie Sorrels, Boise State musicians and more. Oxley's project represents a new, concentrated effort. The ongoing project welcomes any genre, from any era, published or not.
"And that's the beauty of it," Oestreicher said. The first donation to the collection was from a death metal band. She's talked to gospel and classical artists who plan to submit their work. "Music affects everybody. It's part of everybody's lives. That is what we're trying to capture."
Oxley hopes that the public learns about the collection and uses it in creative ways. "What I intended was to help create this repository as a way for local musicians to participate in history," she said.