Gary Hartman Texas Music Series, Sponsored by the Center for Texas Music History, Texas State University – serie

In 1977, when the Voyager deep space probes were launched on their journey into interstellar space, they each carried a gold record containing music from a wide variety of cultures. Of the four selections of American music chosen, one was a recording of Texas street evangelist “Blind” Willie Johnson’s haunting gospel song, “Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground.” Despite Johnson’s recording taking its place among the works intended to represent human culture to the cosmos, his life has long remained shrouded in anonymity and conjecture. Like many African American musicians in the segregated South of the early twentieth century, he managed a precarious existence that hardly lent itself to extensive documentation. Now, after intensive research, both in the field and in archives across the region, author Shane Ford fills in many of the blanks in what may be known or deduced about the life of a musician whose work he describes as “transcendent.” Along the way, he corrects the many errors that have arisen around Johnson and his career: errors that have unfortunately been repeated so often that they have come to be accepted as fact. Beginning with the earliest roots of the blues amid the moans and field hollers of enslaved persons and proceeding with imagination and meticulous regard for the available—albeit sparse—documentation of the life of the artist, Ford paints a picture of “Blind” Willie Johnson and his times that allows us to perceive him in greater detail than ever before. The Ballad of “Blind” Willie Johnson offers readers a deeper appreciation of one of the most unique voices in the history of American music.

Part memoir, part oral history, Poets and Dreamers: My Life in Americana Music traces Tamara Saviano’s remarkable journey through the rise of the Americana music genre. Spanning more than three decades, Saviano unfolds the story of Americana—country music’s bohemian cousin—from her unique perspectives as a journalist, historian, Grammy-winning music producer, filmmaker, and artist emissary. The first woman president of the Americana Music Association and producer of the early Americana Honors and Awards shows at Nashville’s storied Ryman Auditorium, Saviano takes readers behind the scenes for some of the most significant moments in Americana history. Poets and Dreamers illuminates the exceptional Americana community: an ever-expanding yet close-knit circle of friends and unsung heroes devoted to the success of roots music and its artists. Highlights include interviews with artists and colleagues and memories of special events, concerts, and day-to-day life with singers, songwriters, and musicians. Tender stories recalling Saviano’s close relationships with two of her most enduring clients, iconic songwriters Kris Kristofferson and Guy Clark, round out this singular historical work. Including photographs of significant people and moments in Americana music, Poets and Dreamers: My Life in Americana Music will entertain and inform a worldwide readership of fans, students, and scholars of Americana and roots music.

In his introduction, author Brian T. Atkinson calls singer-songwriter Todd Snider “a marvel and a mystery” who “creates at any cost.” Snider, originally hailing from the Portland, Oregon, area, arrived in Texas as a teen and was captured by the troubadour life while at a Jerry Jeff Walker show at venerable Gruene Hall in 1986. He honed his craft for the next three years at the feet of legendary muse and mentor Kent Finlay at Cheatham Street Warehouse in San Marcos.After moving to Nashville—or, more properly, East Nashville—around the turn of the twenty-first century, Snider has garnered a loyal following from regular fans to influential industry leaders like MCA Records executive Tony Brown, iconic producer Don Was, respected artists like Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, Jason Isbell, and Hollywood heroes such as the late comedian Richard Lewis and notorious scenester Pamela Des Barres (I’m with the Band). His songs have been recorded and performed by artists as diverse as Garth Brooks, Loretta Lynn, Elvis Costello, and Tom Jones.Atkinson interviewed Snider, members of his family, and other artists and musicians, to construct a narrative that captures the loopy kineticism of Snider’s career trajectory. He carefully peels back Snider’s barefoot hippie public persona to reveal the soulful poet and writer who “believes everything and nothing at the same time, yet has faith in himself, even when no one else does.”Atkinson’s latest book adds another layer to his already-impressive oeuvre on influential singer-songwriters by shifting focus onto younger musicians who were creatively formed by “first generation” artists like Townes Van Zandt and Mickey Newbury. East Nashville Skyline: The Songwriting Legacy of Todd Snider provides a pivotal chapter in this evolving story.