Crowley County Combined Library

"At the age of fifty-seven, Bad Blake is on his last legs. His weight, his ticker, his liver, even his pick-up truck are all giving him trouble. A renowned songwriter and "Picker" who hasn't recorded in five years, Bad now travels the countryside on gigs that take him mostly to motels and bowling alleys. Enter Ms. Right. Can Bad stop living the life of a country-western song and tie a rope around his crazy heart?"--P. 4 of cover.

"Sixteen-year-old Bird Barrett is discovered by a country music record label while playing in her family's bluegrass band. As her star rises, she must learn to stay true to her roots while navigating a brave new world of glamour and gold records in Nashville, Tennessee"

12 songs

While country music has deep roots in American culture, new country sounds by artists like Kasey Musgraves and Kane Brown are appealing to an increasingly diverse group of listeners. Country Music discusses what todays musicians are doing, how they attract a following, and what they are saying through their music.

"Alice Randall, award-winning professor, songwriter, and author with a "lively, engaging, and often wise" (The New York Times Book Review) voice, offers a lyrical, introspective, and unforgettable account of her past and her search for the first family of Black country music. Country music had brought Randall and her activist mother together and even gave Randall a singular distinction in American music history: she is the first Black woman to cowrite...

The text examines the radio barn dances of the 1930s; the image of the singing cowboy; western swing, honky-tonk music, and rockabilly; the Nashville sound and its emergence as an entertainment mecca; the boom in folk, bluegrass and country rock in the 1970s; the "urban cowboy" explosion of the early 1980s; and the new wave of Nashville stars.

Surveys the history and current stars of country music.

For the first time ever, and to help celebrate his 90th birthday in 2023, American icon Willie Nelson provides the stories behind the lyrics of 160 of his favorite songs, along with a dynamic assortment of never-before-seen photos and ephemera. From his earliest work in the 1950s to today, Willie looks back at the songs that have defined his career, from his days of earning $50 each to his biggest hits, from his less well-known songs (but incredibly...