Brent Hagerman

Currently, I teach History of Rock Music where I enjoy guiding students through the raucous musical past that at times inspired critical social change and at others reproduced racist and sexist norms. My interests in popular music are both personal and academic. As a singer-songwriter, guitarist, mandolinist and saxophonist I’ve played with many wonderful musicians across multiple genres (rock, blues, folk, country, bluegrass, ska, Latin, dub, reggae) and released two albums on Busted Flat Records with reggae-inspired band, the Baudelaires.

My love of music goes beyond writing, collaborating and performing. After busking my way around a few countries, and a stint as a music journalist and editor of an alternative weekly newspaper, I went back to grad school where I indulged my lifelong interest in Jamaican popular music culture. I earned a PhD in Religion and Culture with research that focused on the way reggae artist Yellowman used Rastafarian symbols to alter his racialized and gendered representation from that of an outcaste to sex symbol. I have also published several articles on Bob Marley and am currently finishing a book about him.

In addition to teaching in the Faculty of Music I regularly teach courses in Religion and Culture and in Cultural Studies. I can often be found at local music venues, record stores, and making pilgrimages to venerated sites in rock and reggae history.