My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future

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Alice Randall

My Black Country

A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future

Alice Randall

$55

Hardback

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English

Simon & Schuster
17 April 2024

Folk & traditional music; Country & Western music; Biography: arts & entertainment; Social & cultural history

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 a number one country hit, Trisha Yearwood’s “XXX’s and OOO’s”. Randall found inspiration and comfort in the sounds and history of the first family of Black country music: DeFord Bailey, Lil Hardin, Ray Charles, Charley Pride, and Herb Jeffries who, together, made up a community of Black Americans rising through hard times to create simple beauty, true joy, and sometimes profound eccentricity.

What emerges in My Black Country is a celebration of the most American of music genres and the radical joy in realizing the power of Black influence on American culture. As country music goes through a fresh renaissance today, with a new wave of Black artists enjoying success, My Black Country is the perfect gift for longtime country fans and a vibrant introduction to a new generation of listeners who previously were not invited to give the genre a chance.

By: Alice Randall
Imprint: Simon & Schuster
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 438g
ISBN: 9781668018408
ISBN 10: 1668018403
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 17 April 2024
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Alice Randall is a New York Times bestselling novelist, award-winning songwriter, and educator. She is widely recognized as one of the most significant voices in modern Black fiction and has emerged as an innovative food activist committed to reforms that support healthy bodies and healthy communities. She lives in Nashville where she writes country songs.

Reviews for My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future

"“Alice Randall’s My Black Country is a celebration of all things country music—including the wonderful mixture of people and traditions that contributed to this most American of art forms. She has a songwriter’s gift for storytelling and an ear for the sounds that ricocheted around the country, from southern hamlets to northern cities.” —Ken Burns, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker ""Essential… A delightful, inspirational story of persistence, resistance, and sheer love of music.” —Kirkus, Starred Review"