Bluegrass in Baltimore: The Hard Drivin' Sound and Its Legacy

*2016 ARSC Certificate of Merit for 'Best Research in Country Music'*

With an influx of Appalachian migrants who came looking for work in the 1940s and 1950s, Baltimore found itself populated by some extraordinary mountain musicians and was for a brief time the center of the bluegrass world. Life in Baltimore for these musicians was not easy. There were missed opportunities, personal demons and always the up-hill battle with prejudice against their hillbilly origins. Based upon interviews with legendary players from the golden age of Baltimore bluegrass, this book provides the first in-depth coverage of this transplanted-roots music and its broader influence, detailing the struggles Appalachian musicians faced in a big city that viewed the music they made as the "poorest example of poor man's music."

Tim Newby is a writer and educator. His work has appeared in a variety of publications including Bluegrass Unlimited, Paste, Relix, AmericanaUK, Inside Lacrosse, and Honest Tune. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.