Georgia's music history is diverse in that it covers gospel singer Thomas Dorsey, soul singer James Brown, opera singer Jessye Norman, country singer Alan Jackson, folk singer Hedy West and symphony and choral conductors Robert Shaw and Yoel Levi. They Heard Georgia Singing provides brief musical biographies of the men and women who have made major contributions to Georgia musical history either as natives or as personalities within the context of Georgia music.

Comprehensive and richly illustrated, Close Harmony traces the development of the music known as southern gospel from its antebellum origins to its twentieth-century emergence as a vibrant musical industry driven by the world of radio, television, recordings, and concert promotions. Marked by smooth, tight harmonies and a lyrical focus on the message of Christian salvation, southern gospel--particularly the white gospel quartet tradition--had its roots in nineteenth-century shape-note singing. The spread of white gospel music is intricately connected to the people who based their livelihoods on it, and Close Harmony is filled with the stories of artists and groups such as Frank Stamps, the Chuck Wagon Gang, the Blackwood Brothers, the Rangers, the Swanee River Boys, the Statesmen, and the Oak Ridge Boys. The book also explores changing relations between black and white artists and shows how, following the civil rights movement, white gospel was influenced by black gospel, bluegrass, rock, metal, and, later, rap. With Christian music sales topping the $600 million mark at the close of the twentieth century, Close Harmony explores the history of an important and influential segment of the thriving gospel industry.

A compelling account of the vibrant musical tradition of Sacred Harp singing, Traveling Home describes how song brings together Americans of widely divergent religious and political beliefs. Named after the most popular of the nineteenth-century shape-note tunebooks - which employed an innovative notation system to teach singers to read music - Sacred Harp singing has been part of rural Southern life for over 150 years. In the wake of the folk revival of the 1950s and 60s, this participatory musical tradition attracted new singers from all over America. All-day "singings" from The Sacred Harp now take place across the country, creating a diverse and far-flung musical community. Blending historical scholarship with wide-ranging fieldwork, Kiri Miller presents an engagingly written study of this important music movement.

Hope, Arkansas gave us Bill Clinton, but Zell Miller gave Georgia both hope and HOPE (a scholarhsip program he established), according to journalist Hyatt (Columbus Ledger-Enquirer). Hyatt traces Governor Miller's career from mountain boy Marine, history professor, to memorable "Give em hell, Zell!" keynote speaker at the 1992 Democratic Convention. Includes selected speeches and bandw photos. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

GEORGIA BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY is the definitive biographical reference work on people that have contributed to the history of Georgia. Biographees were chosen from various vocations. Activists, artists, authors, athletes, educators, business leaders, entertainers, historians, inventors, journalists, military figures, musicians, politicians, philanthropists, religious leaders and many other vocations. The place index will make it easy to research people from any place in Georgia. The editorial content of the work is well balanced over all time periods, as well as gender and political affiliations. The work contains historical and contemporary figures Minority studies are of special interest in schools today. February is Black History Month and November is National American Indian Heritage Month. Biographies on Native Americans and African Americans are included in this reference work for research on minority studies. March is National Women's History Month and GEORGIA BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY includes biographies on hundreds of women from various vocations, ethnicity and time periods. This unique reference work contains hundreds of biographies along with illustrations. GEORGIA BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY will be used year round in the various studies on Georgia history, Black history, American Indian history and Women's history.