30 Years of Alison Krauss’ Country Music Breakthrough
Even if the world only knew Alison Krauss from ‘Now That I’ve Found You: A Collection’, her place in country music history would be assured.
Josh Friedberg
Josh Friedberg is a music historian, cultural critic, singer-songwriter, and sometime radio DJ based in Chicago. He has a Master's degree in English from Northeastern Illinois University.
5 Great Books That Reinvent Music Criticism
This is by no means a comprehensive survey of contemporary music criticism, but these five books all point a way forward for the field.
Kris Kristofferson and the Myth of American Freedom
If, as Kris Kristofferson wrote, “freedom’s just another word”, questioning dominant ideas of American freedom is a potently important endeavor.
5 Superb Recent Books Blending Music and Personal Narrative
Music writing often combines the personal, political, and historical in new and inventive ways revealing the interconnectedness of these categories.
25 of the Best Country Songs of the 1990s
The sound of 1990s country was bigger and louder than ever before, and it reached far larger audiences than the genre had ever attained.
‘Becoming Ella Fitzgerald’ Expands the Cultural Memory
Judith Tick’s Becoming Ella Fitzgerald corrects much of the public’s understanding of the First Lady of Song, necessarily expanding the cultural memory.
The 25 Best Country Songs About Death
There is no genre with as rich a history of songs about many forms of death–by natural causes, murder, suicide, war, accidents, and so on–than country.
Self-Deprecating Nonchalance: ‘Prine on Prine’
The “interviews and encounters” in Prine on Prine reveal John Prine’s care for others, and his self-deprecation and nonchalance about his accomplished career.
10 Best Contemporary Books That Blend Music and Personal Narrative
Music and writing are both deeply personal but meant to be shared, as seen in these 10 best contemporary books that blend music and personal narrative.
James Baldwin Digs Into the Roots of American Music
James Baldwin’s writing about music illuminates the significance of racial slavery for all American music. Black American music can help America to move forward if used properly.
A Lost Revolution? 35 Years of ‘Tracy Chapman’
Today’s world needs a revolution. If Tracy Chapman teaches us anything, it’s that we need fundamental change to reckon with the issues she writes about.
12 Contemporary Books That Will Have You Rethinking Music History
The best contemporary music books on this list are specific and sweeping, creating new narratives that challenge dominant orthodoxy on music and its histories.