More than "Just" Music: Four Performative Topoi, the Phish Phenomenon, and the Power of Music in/and Performance

This article explores the relevance performance studies to music scholarship by doing three interrelated actions. First, the author reassesses Pelias and VanOosting’s influential essay “A Paradigm for Performance Studies,” and suggest that their four performative topoi offer important insights into establishing transdisciplinary connections between music scholarship and performance studies. The second and third prongs of the essay unfold as the author moves through a discussion of two scholars’ work and approaches to music and performance studies, Philip Auslander’s and himself. Reflecting on the author’s research on the U.S.-based band Phish and its scene, he attempts to leave the reader with a deepened understanding of (some of) the interconnections between music and performance studies.