Introduction to the special issue: Lost musical histories - Curating and Documenting Local Popular Music Making in the UK

Drawing on different contexts, scenes and histories across the UK, all of the articles in this special issue suggest that although local popular music histories resonate both positively and negatively with mainstream narratives, they also have a specificity that is unique to the region. This collection represents an historical snapshot of these expressions and feelings in the UK, highlighting not just music's importance as a symbolic anchor of locality, but also how the voices of musicians, audiences, critics, venues, curators and other music industry stakeholders can forma collective identity, in a series of competing narratives, that are often hidden from mainstream history. The collection displays how these narratives can facilitate community members to consider who they were, are and want to be, often reflecting on at least two of these parameters simultaneously. All of the articles focus on the 'lost' history of local music participation, ranging from issues surrounding curated history (via exhibitions and re-enactments); influences of the built environment on popular music activity; impacts of popular music's past on the community,to the ways in which changing relationships with local music venues reflect both local concerns and wider trends in popular culture.