The Bad Penny (beta)

Alan Lomax, who passed away at age 87 in 2002, will likely go down in the books – or the Kindles, or whatever – as one of the most important figures in music history. The late, great ethnomusicologist captured the essence of countless cultures as they manifest themselves in sound. He created “field recordings” – the primal beat of humanity itself; and compiled “oral histories,” the narrative counterweights.

But beyond Lomax, it’s rare to find points where anthropology – at least in the academic sense – and music meet.

Enter David M. Mendoza, a cultural anthropologist, elementary-school teacher – oh, and rock-band frontman – who is as eager to talk about music as he is ancient Mayans who predicted that the world would eventually be overcome by galactic drift.