Strong Songs of the Dead

""Thom's book is an authentic and emotional journey into shape note singing. He provides a realistic interpretation of a very personal and profound practice which reflects my own experience of this music. I loved this book.""-Kelly Macklin, editor, Shenandoah Harmony ""Metzger explores the multivalent contradictions of Sacred Harp singing in a highly personal, engaging series of vignettes, at times assuming the role of informal anthropologist and others the stranger in a strange land.""-Nick Pappas, Independent Scholar ""Metzger writes vividly and imaginatively while making his own eclectic sense of an experience at first intensely foreign to him.""-E. Fulton, Hymnologist ""Metzger's work and voice resound in strange harmonies, leaving you wanting more... But what we do have here is lovely: a highly intelligent book about the power of the human voice.""-Carl Abrahamsson, author of Occulture: The Unseen Forces That Drive Culture Forward ""This intimate portrait of the Sacred Harp subculture, which Metzger has embraced with deep, ecstatic fervor... his most spiritual yet grounded book to date: a Joe Coleman painting suffused with a Hildegard von Bingen soundtrack.""-Derek Owens, author of The Villagers ""Metzger's book juxtaposes the fiercely living world of Sacred Harp singing with his parallel theme: ever-present death that resonates through lyrics, rural cemeteries, and the singers themselves.""-Christian Goodwillie, Director Special Collections and Archives, Hamilton College ""The reader will come away wanting to do the thing, to engage in shape note singing in a group, and Metzger assures us that it's just a matter of showing up and trying.""-Sarah Perry, author of Every Cradle is a Grave