Ska Boom Interviews - Heather Augustyn: Ska Historian & Author

Welcome to Ska Boom Interviews, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available through DiWulf Publishing and Amazon.   In this episode, I’m speaking with Heather Augustyn who writes extensively about the history of ska music in Jamaica, the U.K., the U.S., and all over the world. Her books, scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, and online publications aim to give recognition of these artists and this marginalized genre of music. She has also established a collection of ska oral histories and artifacts at the Archive of African American Music.Heather has written seven books about ska and reggae, was the writer for the "Pick It Up: Ska in the 90s" documentary  and is currently researching and writing her latest book "Rude Girls: Women in 2Tone and One Step Beyond" which is due out in the Summer of 2022.We discuss Heather's ska "lightning bolt moment,"  what inspired her to write her first book "Ska: An Oral History" in 2010,  how American ska bands of the 80s and 90s had an obsession with spies and spy imagery and her take on women in ska and how 2021 seems to finally represent an inflection point for women ska musicians. We also talk about The Specials new album "Protest Songs." Please note: The music clips included in this podcast fall under the “Fair Use Doctrine” as defined by Section 107 of the Copyright Act. The law allows for use of music clips for purposes of criticism, comment, and news reporting.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices