Jim Malec

Jim Malec is an American journalist and pop music critic known for writing about country music.^[1] Malec attended State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, where he worked as an editor for the college's student newspaper and was involved in a censorship dispute regarding student free speech rights.^[2] He was named "Best Local Blogger About Country Music" by the Nashville Scene in 2009, with the paper commenting that he is "rough on country music in the way that only a person who loves and thinks deeply about an art form can be."^[1] Malec's work has appeared in American Songwriter,^[3] Slant Magazine,^[4] Westword^[5] and other outlets, and he is a contributor to the Nashville Scene's annual country music critics poll.^[6][7]

Jim Malec
Occupation(s)	Journalist, music critic

Malec is noteworthy for his coverage of Taylor Swift in the early stages of her career, referring to her as "a superstar in the making" in 2007.^[8] His 2011 article "Taylor Swift: The Garden In The Machine"^[9] chronicles Swift's move to Nashville and her integration into the Nashville songwriting community.

References

1. "Best of Nashville 2009: Politics and Media". Nashville Scene. 2009-10-15. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
2. "First Amendment 101". Tampa Bay Times. 2004-07-25. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
3. "Author Archive: Jim Malec". American Songwriter. Retrieved 2022-08-06.
4. "Author Archive: Jim Malec". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2022-08-06.
5. "Author Archive: Jim Malec". Westword. Retrieved 2022-08-06.
6. "The Ninth Annual Nashville Scene Country Music Critics Poll: Voters' Comments". Nashville Scene. 2009-01-15. Retrieved 2022-08-06.
7. "From Jamey Johnson's triumphs to race and suicide, critics weigh in on the year in country music". Nashville Scene. 2011-01-27. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
8. "Music News: Taylor Swift". Westword. 2007-08-25. Retrieved 2022-08-06.
9. Malec, Jim (May 2, 2011). "Taylor Swift: The Garden In The Machine". American Songwriter. Archived from the original on May 10, 2012. Retrieved 2022-08-06.