|
With "Man Of Constant Sorrow" Dr. Ralph Stanley provides a rare firsthand glimpse at the dawning of a new music style - bluegrass - and what it was like to travel the backloads and spread the bluegrass word. Of the early bluegrass innovators, Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs and the Stanley Brothers, this is the only book that provides that firsthand knowledge.
Dr. Stanley kicks off the book diving deep into where the sound of his voice comes from before recounting the surroundings of which he was raised... »»» |
|
Jimmie Rodgers is the undisputed "Father of Country Music." In the 80-odd years since his first recording, at what has been termed the "Big Bang of country music," the Bristol Sessions of 1927, neither scholarship and research nor anecdotal tale has been able to dethrone him. As his history approaches a century, his importance and influence risks diminishing in the glow of much closer flames.
Enter Barry Mazor. Most recognizable for his work in The Wall Street Journal and the... »»» |
|
Say the name "Garth Brooks" and what comes to mind? Twangy songs about life and love? Innovative music videos? Countless hit singles? That ever-present cowboy hat, perhaps?
Well, in the sweeping new book, "The Garth Factor," written by Nashville-based country music writer Patsi Bale Cox, readers discover that the Yukon, Okla. native did all of that and so much more since the release of his self-titled debut album in 1989 and his meteoric rise to stardom where he has sold 128... »»» |
|
Marty Stuart has become a country music historian and preservationist out of both necessity and opportunity. Arriving in Nashville at the age of 13 to join Lester Flatt & the Nashville Grass, Stuart went where Flatt went and that means, as Stuart notes in the forward of the book, "his buddies became my buddies." They played cards together, picked music together, sat around and talked about life and music. These buddies were like a who's who of country and bluegrass music: Bill Monroe,... »»» |
|
Part travelogue, part musical essay, Amanda Petrusich's treatise provides fresh, stylishly written insights. Tackling an immense subject with snapshot imagery and scrupulous historical research, it fashions a convincing argument that American roots music is a perpetual cultural force that ultimately still matters.
Traveling New York - where she cannily cites Woody Guthrie's rise as a folk hero as a Big Apple-generated phenomenon - the author chronicles her reactions to several iconic... »»» |
|
David Liverett, an Indiana-based illustrator known for his pen and ink work in the pointilism style, has long been associated with music. Not only did he design custom album jackets for artists at a recording studio, but he also compiled a collection of gospel artist portraits that was published nationally in 2005, This Is My Story - 146 of the World's Greatest Gospel Singers. Now with the release of his latest collection of portraits, Liverett tackles the world of country... »»» |
|
For many Gram Parsons enthusiasts, John Einarson's new The Flying Burrito Brothers' biography may read like the music business equivalent to TV's MythBusters. Just as that show demystifies many of life's more puzzling physical curiosities, this new book removes rose colored glasses off the noses of those who (perhaps unknowingly) have given Parsons the reputation for being a supreme artistic genius that died young.
Granted, Parsons was a talented - albeit also troubled - musician... »»» |
|
The life of Elvis Aron Presley has been chronicled thousands of times in books both big and small. Indeed, there already exist several volumes listed as "encyclopedias." That said, few are as comprehensive or as flat-out useful as this remarkable tome.
Sporting a hard back, glossy paper and dozens of pictures - both color and black & white - this smartly researched project boasts an impressive range of entries detailing all eras of Presley's career and personal life... »»» |
|
Country music, at its purest form, is about stories. It is the one characteristic that artists from other genres note about in what draws them to country music. In the golden age of country, roughly 1950 to 1970, nearly every song told a story. Every song had a story like every person has a story. In the life of Dana Jennings the stories of people and songs are inextricably woven.
Jennings, now an editor for the New York Times, grew up in a hardscrabble part of New Hampshire... »»» |
|
When most people think of radio barn dances, they immediately think of the Grand Ole Opry, the 80-plus year old Nashville-based radio show. Likewise, when people think of the roots of country music, they think of Nashville and other places south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Of course, there is truth in that, but there is much more to the story.
In the early days of radio, the bulk of content came from live performances. On April 19, 1924, Chicago radio station WLS broadcast the first installment of... »»» |
|
Lonesome Cowgirls and Honky-tonk Angels
The Women of Barn Dance Radio
By Katherine M. McCusker
University of Illinois Press (2008)
The story of how women helped establish country music radio is thoughtfully explored in this extremely informative book. Focusing on both the development of Barn Dance Radio - the radio precursor to the fabled Grand Ole Opry - and female performers as pitchmen and personalities, Katherine McCusker's book reveals some largely undiscussed aspects of country... »»» |
|
Born Country: How Faith, Family and Music Brought Me Home
By Randy Owen with Allen Rucker
Randy Owen was the lead singer of country music's first supergroup, Alabama, playing an integral role in shaping the genre during the 1980's. As Owen pursues a solo career after nearly three decades with the band, he gives a glimpse into his early years and the things that became important to him during his career with Alabama in his autobiography.
While Owen spins the book in his own folksy... »»» |
