When a jazz hero dies, rumors, speculation, gossip, and legend can muddle the real cause of death.

In this book, Frederick J. Spencer, M.D., conducts an inquest on how jazz greats lived and died pursuing ...

Without signing the documents that would permit adoption, young Theresa Cameron's mother placed her little daughter under the aegis of Catholic Charities, and then the mother vanished forever.

During the ...

Hank Williams (1923–1953) is revered in the top tier of the country music pantheon, and his forlorn ballads are classics in the country songbook. An inspired, natural genius, Williams was the complete c ...

How do you create Christmas spirit when the temperature refuses to dip below fifty degrees or when snow is a miracle that vanishes at sunrise?

Held together by bonds of family, soil, and history, Mississippians ...

“After the doctors left, I sat on the edge of Kim’s bed, and we cried. It had all come to this. All the back-and-forth about whether to have children; all the thinking and talking about what we’d need; all t ...

Instead of turning toward hatred after his father was murdered by a black man in 1926, Frank E. Smith (1918-1997) committed himself to help his racist state move toward integration and racial harmony. ...

Yank Rachell and his mandolin playing style moved every musician lucky enough to hear him perform in the early sixties. When he died in April 1997, he left behind a stack of unanswered requests to tour ...

American soul music of the 1960s is one of the most creative and influential musical forms of the twentieth century. With its merging of gospel, R&B, country, and blues, soul music succeeded in crossing ...

2020 Blues Hall of Fame Classic of Blues Literature

Jimi Hendrix called Earl Hooker “the master of the wah-wah pedal. ” Buddy Guy slept with one of Hooker's slides beneath his pillow hoping to tap some of ...

Ellen Gilchrist has amassed a nationwide following, and her readers eagerly anticipate each new short story collection and novel. The sassy and moving commentaries she recorded for National Public Radio ...