Establishing an intersection between the fields of traditional music studies, English folk music history and the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, this book responds to the problematic emphasis on cultural identity in the way traditional music is understood and valued.

Joseph Williams is a Musicologist, currently working as a sessional academic at Western Sydney University. His research interests include traditional music, music and philosophy, and street music. He is a member of the International Council for Traditional Music and the Musicological Society of Australia.

Part 1: The Problem of Identity in Traditional Music

• Chapter 1: Epistemologies of Identity in Traditional Music
• Chapter 2: Epistemologies of Identity in England's Folk Revival
• Chapter 3: The Philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari and its Value for Rethinking Traditional Music
• Chapter 4: The Conceptual Territory of Nationalism and the Territorialization of Traditional Music

Part 2: Majoritarian Identities and Minor Musics in England's Folk Revival

• Chapter 5: Nationalism, Regionalism, Globalism and the Infinite Regress of Identity in Minor Musics
• Chapter 6: Songs of the West: English Folk Music and the Celtic Imaginary
• Chapter 7: Songs of the Open Road: Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Music and the Interculturality of English Traditions
• Chapter 8: Music of the Waters: English Sea Chanties and the Black Atlantic

Part 3: Traditional Music, Affect and the Folding of Dividual Subjectivities

• Chapter 9: Frank Kidson: Vital Melodies and the Intensity of History
• Chapter 10: Lucy Broadwood: Collecting Beautiful Mysteries

Part 4: Evolutionary Thought and the Rhizomatic Production of Traditional Music

• Chapter 11: Lines and Lineages: Arborescent Evolutionary Theories of Traditional Music
• Chapter 12: From Chaos to Song: Towards a Rhizomatic Evolutionary Theory of Traditional Music