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Christopher M. Reali is an Assistant Professor of Music (Music Industry) at Ramapo College of New Jersey. He holds a Ph.D. in musicology, and studies popular music by examining the relationships between local music scenes and the national music industry. He is currently working on a manuscript about the Muscle Shoals, Alabama recording industry. This work situates the Muscle Shoals music scene within the larger narrative of popular music studies by assessing salient musical characteristics and interpreting the long-lasting cultural effects of this Alabama community. Reali has presented at numerous conferences including the American Musicological Society, the Society for American Music, the Society for Ethnomusicology, the U.S. conference of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, and the MEIEA Summit. His published work appears in <em>Rock Music Studies</em>, MEIEA <em>Journal</em>, <em>Southern Cultures</em>, <em>The New Grove Dictionary of American Music</em>, and <em>The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture</em>. Dr. Reali has also toured the United States, Canada, and Western Europe as a guitar technician and tour manager for Chris Whitley, and as a guitar, bass, and drum tech for David Gray.
Chris Reali is an Assistant Professor of Music (Music Industry) at Ramapo College of New Jersey. He holds a Ph.D. in musicology from UNC, Chapel Hill. His monograph, “Music and Mystique in Muscle Shoals,” was published by the University of Illinois Press in July 2022. Reali has presented at numerous conferences including the meetings of the American Musicological Society, the Society for American Music, the Society for Ethnomusicology, IASPM, and the MEIEA Summit. His published articles have appeared in Rock Music Studies, the MEIEA Journal, and Southern Cultures. Chris has also toured the United States, Canada, and Western Europe as a guitar technician and tour manager for Chris Whitley, and as a guitar, bass, and drum tech for David Gray.