Much of his research explores African-American expressive culture. He has collaborated with the Smithsonian and the Folk Arts Section of the North Carolina Arts Council and is currently engaged in a project that will “re-center the curricula in 4th-grade public school classrooms around the study of local musical traditions.” His latest work with African-American gospel singers has led him to investigate the “traditions of ‘collaborative communication’ when mortal speakers and transcendent entities are said to share responsibility for communication.”