This is a portrayal of the breadth and depth of bluegrass, from its fans and followers to its performers - including Bill Monroe, 'the father of Bluegrass music' - in a readable and panoramic photo-documentary of an American form of popular music.

The twentieth anniversary paperback edition, updated with a new preface Winner of the International Bluegrass Music Association Distinguished Achievement Award and of the Country Music People Critics' Choice Award for Favorite Country Book of the Year Beginning with the musical cultures of the American South in the 1920s and 1930s, Bluegrass: A History traces the genre through its pivotal developments during the era of Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys in the forties. It describes early bluegrass's role in postwar country music, its trials following the appearance of rock and roll, its embracing by the folk music revival, and the invention of bluegrass festivals in the mid_sixties. Neil V. Rosenberg details the transformation of this genre into a self-sustaining musical industry in the seventies and eighties is detailed and, in a supplementary preface written especially for this new edition, he surveys developments in the bluegrass world during the last twenty years. Featuring an amazingly extensive bibliography, discography, notes, and index, this book is one of the most complete and thoroughly researched books on bluegrass ever written.

A chronological guide to bluegrass music that describes and traces the development of the musical genre.

Association of Recorded Sound Collections Awards for Excellence Best Research in Record Labels–Certificate of Merit (2012) The Starday Story: The House That Country Music Built is the first book entirely dedicated to one of the most influential music labels of the twentieth century. In addition to creating the largest bluegrass catalogue throughout the 1950s and '60s, Starday was also known for its legendary rockabilly catalogue, an extensive Texas honky-tonk outpouring, classic gospel and sacred recordings, and as a Nashville independent powerhouse studio and label. Written with label president and co-founder Don Pierce, this book traces the label's origins in 1953 through the 1968 Starday-King merger. Interviews with artists and their families, employees, and Pierce contribute to the stories behind famous hit songs, including "Y'all Come," "A Satisfied Mind," "Why Baby Why," "Giddy-up Go," "Alabam," and many others. Gibson's research and interviews also shed new light on the musical careers of George Jones, Arlie Duff, Willie Nelson, Roger Miller, the Stanley Brothers, Cowboy Copas, Red Sovine, and countless other Starday artists. Conversations with the children of Pappy Daily and Jack Starns provide a unique perspective on the early days of Starday, and extensive interviews with Pierce offer an insider glance at the country music industry during its golden era. Weathering through the storm of rock and roll and, later, the Nashville Sound, Starday was a home to traditional country musicians and became one of the most successful independent labels in American history. Ultimately, The Starday Story is the definitive record of a country music label that played an integral role in preserving our nation's musical heritage.

Celebrating the Ancients From before the time of Christ, pagan philosophers and storytellers have been influencing thought and shaping culture. In this issue dedicated to the ancient philosophers that formed the foundation of Western culture, we examine the way Christian thought was influenced by and engaged with those early writers and how the Jewish Messiah fulfilled the best hopes raised by what C.S. Lewis referred to as the "good dreams of the pagans." Contributors C.M. Alvarez: "The Power of the Storyteller: Jesus and Aesop" on the ancient tales that changed the world. Jesse W. Baker: "Listening to the Past" on the value of the Ancients. Donald W. Catchings, Jr.: "The Chain-Breaker in Plato's Allegory" on escaping the cave, and an excerpt from the novelette, Strength in Weakness, a retelling of Theseus. Annie Crawford: "Wisdom Became Flesh and Dwelt Among Us: Pagan Dreams of the King of Kings" on Christian virtues and philosopher-kings. Riz Crescini: "The Imaginative Strategy of Boethius" on the apologetic power of the imagination. Joshua S. Fullman: "A Galatian Marriage / Nasoni" on pagan morals and aesthetics. Karise Gililland: "Sede Vacante" on the Fall of Man. Douglas LeBlanc: "Vengeance is Mine, Saith Everyone" on societal and personal judgment. Alex Markos: "The Return of the Kings: Comparing the Homecoming of Odysseus and the Two Comings of Christ" on the tension between love and wrath, and "Persephone" on Christian re-imagination. Louis Markos: "In Defense of Hospitality and Storytelling" on the rules of xenia. Seth Myers: "Till They Have Faces: Lewis's Psyche Meets the Modern Helen of Troy and Circe" on different perspectives on ancient stories. Cherish Nelson: "The Nicomachean Ethics and the Enemy Within" on horror, power, and self-control. Annie Nardone: "Oh Brother: A Bluegrass Odyssey" on ancient morality, values, and spirituality. Zak Schmoll: "Pius Samwise: Roman Heroism in The Lord of the Rings" on Virgil and Tolkien's chief heroes. Jason M. Smith: "Worth Reading: The Ancients" with a list of suggestions on where to begin to read the ancient philosophers, and a review of After Humanity by Michael Ward. Ted Wright: "Drinking from the Well of the Past: A Reflection on the Role of History in Literature & Philosophy for the Modern World" on the function of history. Iris Zamora: "Ancients of Old," a poem celebrating the thinkers of days gone by. Fall 2021 Volume 4, Issue 3 280 pages Cover illustration by Virginia De La Lastra