This book explores the ways in which Western-derived music connects with globalization, hybridity, consumerism and the flow of cultures. Both as local terrain and as global crossroads, cities remain fascinating spaces of cultural contestation and meaning-making via the composing, playing, recording and consumption of popular music.

Escape to the glorious Australian Outback and the Montana countryside with the help of legendary Australian romance authors Amy Andrews, Marion Lennox, Kelly Hunter, and Alissa Callen in these four stellar romances! Some Girls Do by Amy Andrews Though fashion student Lacey Weston is desperate to leave the city and go home to Jumbuck Springs, her older brothers are adamant she finishes school first. But Lacey is deeply homesick and impulsive enough to try anything—even faking a pregnancy. Her brother’s best friend, Cooper Grainger, has been watching out for Lacey but he’s tired of cleaning up her messes. They return home, but before Coop knows it, he’s putting his hand up as Lacey’s fake baby daddy. Christmas at Waratah Bay by Marion Lennox Sarah’s committed to her stellar modelling career in New York, but Harold, who served as a Grandpa to her when she needed him most, wants one last Christmas in his beloved Waratah Bay Homestead. The only problem is, Harold no longer owns it. Farming tycoon Max Ramsey does, and he doesn’t like company, Christmas, and most of all, Sarah. When the two clash, enough sparks ensue to light a Christmas tree. Maggie’s Run by Kelly Hunter Orphaned as a child, Maggie Walker never called Wirra Station home. But when her great aunt dies, Maggie inherits everything and reluctantly returns to tidy the place up before selling. Ambitious cowboy-next-door Max O’Connor wants to buy Wirra Station and return it to its former glory. But first, he challenges Maggie to live at Wirra Station for three months—with him as farm manager. If she still doesn’t love the place, he’ll gladly pay up and she can move on. Three months. Two hearts. One Summer. His Outback Cowgirl by Alissa Callen Australian cowgirl Bridie Willis travels to Montana to escape the pain of losing her father. She plans to spend the summer alone photographing wild animals but instead finds herself saddled with a stubborn cowboy as a back-country guide. Ethan Morgan is tasked with ensuring the beautiful, risk-taking cowgirl doesn’t ditch him or come to any harm. But the biggest challenge Ethan must face is to accept how Bridie makes him feel. And the biggest risk Bridie must take is to trust in her heart.

When Rebecca Lister and Tony Kelly move from Melbourne to Mount Isa to care for Rebecca's elderly mother, Diana, they have no idea what they've signed up for. The isolation, sweltering heat and limited employment opportunities make settling into the mining town a challenge. While Rebecca deals with her mother's declining health and delves into her own past, Tony takes on a new role in native title law.However, caring for Diana &– a witty, crossword-loving 92-year-old &– proves to be a more enriching experience than either Tony or Rebecca thought possible. As they make deeper connections to the land and community, they find themselves flourishing in a most unexpected place. Growing Pineapples in the Outback explores the highs and lows of caring for an ageing parent, while also celebrating the rewards of a simpler life.

This is a story of marriage gone wrong, a story of love between two very unlikely people, and a story of two very likable unlikable people. This is a work of fiction with the island of Maui in the late 1980s as a location and character. As a location, the Maui of this book takes real places from then that still exist today and makes them its own, a perfect setting for love and its ugly twin, obsession.

The Global Southern Music Issue enhanced eBook includes all the tracks on Traveling Shoes, our special free CD and: The South meets Senegal as hip-hop goes Trans-Atlantic. Hawaiian steel guitar sways the Southern musical landscape. Poet Allen Ginsberg and bluesman James "Son" Thomas trade verses. Aussie Elvis impersonators keep the king alive. A U.K. scholar offers a new perspective on the study of the blues. Music pirates keep alive another tradition of bootlegging in the South. And much more. Southern Cultures is published quarterly (spring, summer, fall, winter) by the University of North Carolina Press. The journal is sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Center for the Study of the American South.

Where do thousands of people in wigs, jumpsuits and fake Priscilla eyelashes go each January to swelter in 42-degree heat as they celebrate The King? Parkes, of course - 365 kilometres west of Sydney - for the annual Parkes Elvis Festival. But how, and why, did this sleepy town get all shook up by Elvis? Written by two long-time fans of the festival, Outback Elvis introduces the local characters, the lookalikes, the impersonators and the tribute artists - and the town that made this big hunk o' Elvis love possible.

A intimate story of the King of Rock 'n' Roll and his adoring mother