Beginning in the early twentieth century, American music scenes and audiences grew more inclusive and diverse. Specifically in urban centers like New York and Chicago, new popular styles attracted artists and listeners across demographic divides. Consequently, previous scholarship has tended to overlook the role that remote areas played. One example is Myrtle Beach, a resort town on South Carolina’s coast. In the 1950s and 1960s, when African American musical innovations like rhythm and blues increasingly influenced mainstream culture, Myrtle Beach attracted visitors from different parts of the country. People from Southern states, where segregation shaped public and cultural life, as well as the Northeast, where traditional standards of propriety prevailed, first encountered rhythm and blues and other fresh styles in Myrtle Beach. Even big-name performers like Little Richard and Ray Charles played local music venues to the amazement of mixed audiences. 

Representing a student-led research undertaking at Coastal Carolina University’s Center for Inclusive Excellence, this project investigates how the Grand Strand region catalyzed the rise of new popular music forms. Using oral histories provided by contemporary witnesses, news sources from media archives, and information gathered at historical sites, it examines what roles the relatively remote Grand Strand played in the evolution of American pop culture. Interviewees shared unique personal perspectives that offered valuable insights into the period’s social, political, and cultural climates. The cast of witnesses included figures from the circuit of commercial entertainment, local residents who saw the area evolve into a hotspot of popular culture, and individuals who vacationed in Myrtle Beach as teenagers looking for new excitements. Aspiring to close a persistent gap in research on the dissemination of popular culture, this project explores how Myrtle Beach expedited the development of all-American musical and cultural experiences that reflect the nation’s inclusive and diverse character.