By Madeline Thomas

Emily Votaw is not a typical part-time graduate student. Sure, she goes to classes, writes her thesis, and has a TA position, but she was also given the opportunity to speak at the Ohio University Music Industry Summit with Nwaka Onwusa. Being a part of the summit has been a long time in the making for Votaw, who started her journalism career when she was just 17 years old. She studied journalism at Ohio University after she graduated high school, but she always kept her schedule open for freelance jobs that involved music. Those freelance jobs allowed her to write constantly, honing her craft while working full time as a community journalist.

Votaw credits her experiences in community journalism with her ability to do this year’s summit. “My past in community journalism … really helped embed me in the music culture of this region … and those small newspaper jobs were more important than I realized at the time,” she says. Votaw also says that she was not always as forward and confident as she is today, but that her time with OHIO organizations like the All-Campus Radio Network and WOUB taught her to trust herself and to always be sincere in her work. “Do your research beforehand but also rely on your spontaneous self and try to trust yourself,” she says.

Votaw says that her work with her academic advisor and professor, Edmund Ashworth, also helped her gain confidence for her conversation with Onwusa. “Working with (Eddie) … has allowed me to realize that I might not know everything, but my perspective on music is certainly well-founded enough to allow me to be vocal and confident about it,” says Votaw. That revelation was very helpful for her when speaking with Onwusa because Votaw can now acknowledge that she has worked hard to get where she is today.

The other person that Votaw credits with helping her to become a part of the summit is Josh Antonuccio. “I’m very grateful for the working connection I have with Josh because he’s such an amazing person in the music community around here, as well as the academic community,” says Votaw. Antonuccio had asked Votaw to speak at last year’s summit, but

unfortunately the event was cancelled due to COVID-19. “It was a bummer … so now I’m really glad that I got a second chance to be a part of it,” recalls Votaw, smiling.

Votaw knows that having a virtual summit is not nearly the same as having one in person, but she was still very excited to speak with Onwusa. Votaw has great respect Onwusa and it is easy to understand why: “She’s super accomplished; she’s worked at the Grammy Museum and now she’s in the major position at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame … she’s just such an amazing person and she’s done so many cool things,” says Votaw.

Votaw was aware of Onwusa prior to the summit because of the work Onwusa had done with Chuck Stewart. Stewart was a graduate of Ohio University and a photographer, and Votaw believes that Stewart’s name is relatively unknown due to racism in the music and photography industries, so she was very happy to see Onwusa put Stewart’s work in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, Stewart passed away in 2017, but his work is now associated with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, so Stewart is finally getting the recognition that Votaw thinks he deserves.

Aside from Chuck Stewart, some of the other topics that Votaw and Onwusa discussed included Onwusa’s curatorial philosophy, this year’s nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, and, of course, how to preserve rock music. Votaw hopes that young women especially get something out of her session with Onwusa, because Votaw thinks that Onwusa made some great points about the struggles of being a woman in the music industry.

Not one to be defined solely by the Music Industry Summit, Votaw has more great plans to work on now that the summit has ended. She plans to complete her thesis hours this summer and she is also working on getting a story about Chuck Stewart nationally syndicated through the American non-profit organization, National Public Radio. She also has a few long-term projects on standby, but Votaw says that those will have to wait until the pandemic is over. However, with no plans to leave her job at WOUB anytime soon, Votaw is certain that all her plans will work out.

Votaw’s advice for people who are interested in working in the music industry is something that she took from Laurie Anderson many years ago. “First, don’t be afraid of anyone. Try to imagine a life where you are not afraid of anybody … Second, develop your intuition to understand when people are being sincere … It is important to know when people are pulling your leg, especially in a professional setting, and you must know how serious they are about the profession you are in … Third, be sincere. Sincerity always comes across well,” says Votaw. It is no wonder Votaw is so successful this early on in her career with advice like that. She also added her own fourth part in which she stresses the importance of pin-pointing a person’s dream job and then learning everything possible about that profession.

“Music journalism was certainly something that I never thought would be my actual career,” says Votaw, but here she is, finding her niche in the Athens music scene and continuing to work on her career. With her husband and her two dogs at her side, it seems like nothing can stop Votaw, not even a global pandemic. She has created a name for herself and could very well be the next Bob Boilen (without the hat, of course).