Walking the Line

Thomas Alan Holmes is a professor of English who teaches American literature in the East Tennessee State University Department of Literature and Language; he also serves as associate dean of arts and sciences. Roxanne Harde is associate dean—research, an associate professor of English, and a McCalla University Professor at the University of Alberta—Augustana Faculty. She studies and teaches American literature and culture.

This book presents 14 essays, by a variety contributors, about 15 country-music lyricists. The order is roughly chronological, starting with Jimmie Rodgers and ending with Steve Earle. Though excerpts from the subjects' lyrics are quoted, complete lyrics are not provided. Instead, the contributors discuss the lyricists' works in their cultural context. It is common for country artists to perform songs that others wrote for them, but, interestingly, most of these essays concern lyrics that well-known artists such as Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, and Willie Nelson wrote, performed, and popularized themselves. The exception is Cindy Walker, who was extremely successful as a lyricist but little known as a performer. Most of the essayists, including Holmes and Harde, are professors of or specialists in English and history rather than music. It is thus understandable that their discussions focus on topics such as the dominant culture, regional history, and religious views that shaped the lyricists, without delving into matters of musical style. This book is suitable for for anyone interested in American popular music and popular culture. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsCreditsIntroductionWalking the Line: The Dixie Chicks and the Making of Country LyricistsThomas Alan HolmesRoxanne HardeChapter 1“Nobody knows but me”: Jimmie Rodgers and the Body PoliticTaylor HagoodChapter 2Cindy Walker, Lyle Lovett, and the WestThomas Alan HolmesChapter 3“Help your brother along the way”: Hank Williams and the Humane TraditionHoward Steve GoodsonChapter 4JC: Johnny Cash and FaithThomas Alan HolmesChapter 5Religious Doctrine in the mid-1970s to 1980s Country Music Concept Albums of Willie NelsonBlase S. ScarnatiChapter 6Grace to Catch a Falling Soul: Country, Gospel, and Evangelical Populism in the Music of Dottie RamboDouglas HarrisonChapter 7“Here’s the story of my life; listen and I’ll tell it twice”: The Appalachian Autobiography of Loretta LynnLaura Grace PattilloChapter 8“Branded” Man: Merle Haggard’s Romance of the OutlierThomas Alan HolmesChapter 9Townes van Zandt: “Now here’s what this story’s told.”Pete Falconer and James ZborowskiChapter 10Wildness, Eschatology, and Enclosure in the Songs of Townes Van ZandtMichael B. MacDonaldChapter 11“Where it counts I’m real”: The Complexities of Dolly Parton’s Feminist VoiceSamantha ChristensenChapter 12“Sin City”: Gram Parsons and the “Christ-Haunted South” Clay MotleyChapter 13Weeping Willows and Long Black Veils: The Country Roots of Rosanne Cash, from Scotland to TennesseeJune Skinner SawyersChapter 14“They draft the white trash first ‘round here anyway”: Steve Earle’s American BoysRoxanne HardeIndexAbout the Contributors