Not only have a breathtaking array of musical giants come from the Southathink Elvis Presley, Robert Johnson, Louis Armstrong, Jimmie Rodgers, to name just obvious examplesabut so have a breathtaking array of American music genres. From blues to rock and roll to jazz to country to bluegrassaand areas in betweenait all started in the American South. Since its debut in 1996, The Oxford Americanas more-or-less annual Southern Music Issue has become legendary for its passionate and wide-ranging approach to music and for working with some of Americaas greatest writers. These writersafrom Peter Guralnick to Nick Tosches to Susan Straight to William Gayaprobe the lives and legacies of Southern musicians you may or may not yet be familiar with, but whom youall love being introduced, or reintroduced, to. In one creative, fresh way or another, these writers also uncover the essence of musicaand why music has such power over us.To celebrate ten years of Southern music issues, most of which are sold-out or very hard to find, the fifty-five essays collected in this dynamic, wide-ranging, and vast anthology appeal to both music fans and fans of great writing.