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Hi, I’m Lydia Warren, a musician and scholar based in West Virginia. I received a PhD in music from the University of Virginia in 2021, a BA in music from Smith College and a Five College Consortium Certificate in Ethnomusicology in 2014, and an AS in music from Middlesex Community College in 2011. Prior to and during my studies, I worked as a full-time internationally-touring musician (guitar and voice). I am also a musicians’ advocate and I facilitated a low-cost musicians’ parking program for Beale Street musicians in Memphis, Tennessee, where I performed nightly for several years.

My areas of expertise are American music, music-based tourism, racial and economic inequity in music, museums, and folklife. I currently work as the Director of the Frank & Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center at Fairmont State University.

Past 2022 Shows:
April 16- Hernando’s Hideaway (Lydia is the guest host of the blues jam), 5-8pm, Memphis, TN
April 23- Cooper Young PorchFest (1962 Evelyn Ave), 1pm, Memphis, Tennessee (free & outdoors)
April 24- Lydia with Brimstone Jones, 3-6pm, Lafayette’s, Memphis, TN
May 6- South Main Sounds, 7pm, Memphis, TN
May 10- Writers in the Round at Lamplighter Lounge with Treespots and Kacee Russell, 9pm, Memphis, TN
May 21- Hernando’s Hideaway (Lydia is the guest host of the blues jam), 4-7pm, Memphis, TN
May 22- Lydia with Brimstone Jones, 3-6pm, Lafayette’s, Memphis, TN
May 25- Women in Memphis Music at B-Side (with band), 8pm, Memphis, TN

June 17- The Way at St. John’s, 6-7pm, Memphis, TN (Lydia plays with house band)
June 18- Downtown Farmers Market, 9-11am, Memphis, TN (free and outdoors! solo show)
June 28- BSide Bar, 930ish, Memphis, TN (full band)
July 22- The Way at St. John’s, 6-7pm, Memphis, TN (Lydia plays with house band)
July 22- Memphis, TN with Gracie Curran (cancelled)
July 24- Montgomery, AL with Gracie Curran (cancelled)
August 16- Writers in the Round at Lamplighter Lounge, 9pm, Memphis, TN
August 19- The Way at St. John’s, 6-7pm, Memphis, TN (Lydia plays with house band)