ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that particularly ‘local’ examples of musical practices can provide an important view from which to critically consider notions of global and local flows of music, information, capital and resultant power. A form of guitar- and ukulele-based popular music known as ‘stringband’ has developed since the Second World War in Papua New Guinea. Stringband ensembles consist of a combination of voices, guitars, ukuleles and sometimes a bass instrument. Papua New Guinea still tends to suffer from the largely Western perception that it is the ‘last unknown’, obscuring the fact there are a number of towns and cities with the various utilities and lifestyles associated with those of urban areas in most parts of the world. The large numbers of mainly US and Japanese military personnel generated and were supported by a comprehensive formal and informal recording and performance network.
