The 1960s counterculture saw the birth of many new religious movements (NRMs), a few of which are now remembered as some of the most violent cults in American history. While much has been written about the crimes of the Children of God, Peoples Temple, and the Manson Family, our understanding of these groups is still tied to theories of mind control that would lead us to believe that all new religious movements are cast in essentially the same mold. Sensational coverage of cult violence in journalistic and true crime media reinforce these tropes and often casts these groups in such a deviant light that their abuses seem wholly removed from the social and religious dynamics of the broader world. Scholars of NRMs have long argued that the “cult” label hinders our ability to see the complex social and religious dynamics of NRMs and obscures the true motivations when new religions become violent.

This dissertation will intervene in these conversations through the examination of the understudied role of the music in NRMs. I will examine the music these groups made, how it expressed their religious worldview, and its role both as an act of ritual worship and a means of negotiating their relationship with a frequently hostile outside world. The music itself also draws our attention to the complex dialogue between popular and religious music throughout the era. Through an interdisciplinary approach informed by religious studies, sociology, musicology, and ethnomusicology, this dissertation will analyze the different roles that music played within these groups and how this music is reinterpreted when a controversial new religion is labeled a cult.