“The story of Felice and Boudleaux Bryant is the story of towering artistic achievement wrapped in a love story so deep and so complete that the two are their own country song. Bobbie and Bill Malone are precisely the right match to tell this tale of love and genius.”—Ken Burns, Director, Country Music You might not know the names of Boudleaux and Felice Bryant, but you know their music. Arriving in Nashville in 1950, the songwriting duo became the first full-time independent songwriters in that musical city. In the course of their long careers, they created classic hits that pushed the boundaries of country music into the realms of pop and rock. Songs like “Bye Bye Love,” “All I Have to Do Is Dream,” “Love Hurts,” and “Rocky Top” inspired young musicians everywhere. Here, for the first time, is a complete biography of Nashville’s power songwriting couple. In Nashville’s Songwriting Sweethearts, authors Bobbie Malone and Bill C. Malone recount how Boudleaux and Felice, married in 1945, began their partnership as itinerant musicians living in a trailer home and writing their first songs together. In Nashville the couple had to deal with racism, classism, and in Felice’s case, sexism. Yet through hard work and business acumen—and a dose of good luck—they overcame these obstacles and rose to national prominence. By the late 1990s, the Bryants had written as many as 6,000 songs and had sold more than 350 million copies worldwide. They were inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972, and in 1991 they became members of the Country Music Hall of Fame—a rare occurrence for songwriters who were not also performers. In 1982 their composition “Rocky Top” was adopted as one of the official state songs of Tennessee. The Bryants were lucky enough to arrive in the right place at the right time. Their emergence in the early fifties coincided with the rise of Nashville as Music City, USA. And their prolific collaboration with the Everly Brothers, beginning in 1957, sparked a fusion between country and pop music that endures to this day.

“The story of Felice and Boudleaux Bryant is the story of towering artistic achievement wrapped in a love story so deep and so complete that the two are their own country song. Bobbie and Bill Malone are precisely the right match to tell this tale of love and genius.”—Ken Burns, Director, Country Music You might not know the names of Boudleaux and Felice Bryant, but you know their music. Arriving in Nashville in 1950, the songwriting duo became the first full-time independent songwriters in that musical city. In the course of their long careers, they created classic hits that pushed the boundaries of country music into the realms of pop and rock. Songs like “Bye Bye Love,” “All I Have to Do Is Dream,” “Love Hurts,” and “Rocky Top” inspired young musicians everywhere. Here, for the first time, is a complete biography of Nashville’s power songwriting couple. In Nashville’s Songwriting Sweethearts, authors Bobbie Malone and Bill C. Malone recount how Boudleaux and Felice, married in 1945, began their partnership as itinerant musicians living in a trailer home and writing their first songs together. In Nashville the couple had to deal with racism, classism, and in Felice’s case, sexism. Yet through hard work and business acumen—and a dose of good luck—they overcame these obstacles and rose to national prominence. By the late 1990s, the Bryants had written as many as 6,000 songs and had sold more than 350 million copies worldwide. They were inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972, and in 1991 they became members of the Country Music Hall of Fame—a rare occurrence for songwriters who were not also performers. In 1982 their composition “Rocky Top” was adopted as one of the official state songs of Tennessee. The Bryants were lucky enough to arrive in the right place at the right time. Their emergence in the early fifties coincided with the rise of Nashville as Music City, USA. And their prolific collaboration with the Everly Brothers, beginning in 1957, sparked a fusion between country and pop music that endures to this day.

Nashville's first professional songwriters, Boudleaux and Felice Bryant wrote a long string of 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s country and pop hits, most of the Everly Brothers standards, and "Rocky Top," the most famous bluegrass song in the world. Their professional partnership is legendary--their compositions have influenced several generations of artists and few other writers have had as great an impact on modern popular music. Their personal relationship is one of the great American love stories--they eloped within days of meeting and were madly in love for the next forty years. This lavishly illustrated biography tells the story of the songwriters and of the most famous Bryant songs. Rare interviews and photos from the Bryant family's private collection tell how the Bryants' talent, hard work, and devotion to each other changed music history. Anyone who was ever in love will enjoy the account of their romance and anyone who appreciates the scope and originality of American popular music will treasure the story of their songs.

From New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hauck comes Nashville Dreams and Nashville Sweetheart, the stories of two talented young women with a gift, a dream, and something to prove in one of the hottest cities in America. “Packing witty dialogue, quirky characters, and a rocking country vibe, her story will make you laugh as it plunges you into the world of today’s country music industry.” —Christianbook.com Nashville Dreams The best songwriter in Freedom, Alabama, is about to go pro in Nashville—or go down in flames. Robin Rae is never more herself than when she’s singing one of her songs on the front porch . . . but she’s never more terrified than when she’s about to sing one onstage. Nevertheless, Robin knows it’s high time she set her sights on Music Row. Freedom, Alabama, is no place for a songwriter to run down her dream—stage fright or no. She isn’t the first to make the leap. Robin has known more than a few would-be stars whom Nashville has chewed up and spat out—including some big names from Freedom. So when she finds herself on deck at the famous Bluebird Cafe within a week of arriving in Music City, she can hardly believe what’s happening. With the lights going up and the specter of stage fright looming over her, this small-town gal is about to get a lesson in what it takes to make it in the music business. Will a gifted young woman let her dreams be smothered by fear . . . or will love teach her to open her heart and shine in the city where stars are born? Nashville Sweetheart The media mystery that is superstar Aubrey James is about to be unraveled—one memory at a time. At thirty years old, Aubrey James has been at the top of country charts for over a decade; but as the daughter of gospel icons Ray and Myra James, she was in the public eye long before her own success. Aubrey James knows Nashville stardom. Though her parents’ untimely death gave Aubrey the kind of tragic legacy that Nashville royalty is made of, she would have preferred keeping her family . . . and the faith she lost somewhere along the way. Now she exists in a guarded, private world, letting nothing in, not even love. But when her music director betrays Aubrey’s trust with a smear campaign of tabloid interviews, the star knows the time has come to go public with her private story for the first time. And when her Inside NashVegas interviewer turns out to be a man from her past—a man she’d hoped to forget—this interview gets complicated fast. The music diva’s guarded heart is about to become a distant memory. Nashville Sweetheart is a wild ride through the whirlwind of Nashville stardom, the political show that is the music business, and the secret faith that can fortify even the most tragic family ties. *Nashville Dreams and Nashville Sweetheart were originally published as Lost in NashVegas and Diva NashVegas.

Contributions by Christina Baade, Candace Bailey, Paula J. Bishop, Maribeth Clark, Brittany Greening, Tammy Kernodle, Kendra Preston Leonard, April L. Prince, Travis D. Stimeling, and Kristen M. Turner For every star, there are hundreds of less-recognized women who contribute to musical communities, influencing their aesthetics and expanding opportunities available to women. Hidden Harmonies: Women and Music in Popular Entertainment focuses not on those whose names are best known nor most celebrated but on the women who had power in collective or subversive ways hidden from standard histories. Contributors to Hidden Harmonies reexamine primary sources using feminist and queer methodologies as well as critical race theory in order to overcome previous, biased readings. The scholarship that results from such reexaminations explores topics from songwriters to the music of the civil rights movement and from whistling schools to musical influencers. These wide-ranging essays create a diverse and novel view of women's contribution to music and its production. With intelligence and care, Hidden Harmonies uncovers the fascinating figures behind decades of popular music.

For more than four decades, Hendersonville has been home to extraordinary musical talent. Music icons of the early 1960s like Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash and June Carter migrated to the city and the tranquility of the lake. These musicians became part of the close-knit Caudill community, which was and continues to be home to southern music royalty. Orbison's legendary "Pretty Woman" came from his time in Hendersonville with his first wife, Claudette. Johnny Cash's critically acclaimed version of Trent Reznor's "Hurt" was filmed in Cash's Hendersonville home, leading to a new generation of fans. The '60s, '70s and '80s were a popular time for musicians to move to Hendersonville. Authors Jennifer Bruce and Tena Lee offer up the legendary history.

A bonus epilogue is now available in the e-book! Aubrey can’t outrun her past any longer… It’s at her door, and the cameras are rolling. Aubrey James ruled the charts as the queen of country for over a decade. She'd rocketed to fame in the shadow of her parents' death-both of them pioneers in Gospel music. But while her public life, high profile romances, and fights with Music Row execs made for juicy tabloid headlines, the real and private Aubrey has remained a media mystery. When a former band member betrays Aubrey's trust and sells an "exclusive" to a tabloid, the star knows she must go public with her story. But Aubrey's private world is rocked when the Inside NashVegas interviewer is someone from her past-someone she'd hoped to forget. All the moxie in the world won't let her run any longer. Sweet and thoughtful contemporary read Book 1: Nashville Dreams; Book 2: Nashville Sweetheart Book length: approximately 80,000 words Includes discussion questions for book clubs *Nashville Sweetheart was originally published as Diva NashVegas.