Bluegrass Breakdown: The Making of the Old Southern Sound

Robert Cantwell

ISBN 10: 0252071174 / ISBN 13: 9780252071171

Published by University of Illinois Press, 2002

About this Item

An academic book on bluegrass. Series: Music in American Life. Num Pages: 336 pages. BIC Classification: AVGL. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational. Dimension: 230 x 151 x 23. Weight in Grams: 498. . 2002. 1st Pbk. Ed. Paperback. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland.

Seller Inventory # V9780252071171

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Bluegrass Breakdown: The Making of the Old Southern Sound
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0252071174
• ISBN 13: 9780252071171
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Bluegrass Breakdown is an expansive foray into the makings of bluegrass. More than any other book of its kind, it gets to the roots of a uniquely American music that is deeply linked to working-class ideals and romanticism. 

Robert Cantwell engages the historical background, commercial origins, internal workings, and cultural and social significance of popular, old-time music to provide a unique musicological and sociological perspective. Well-versed in the history of the tradition and equally as interested in those who listen to the music as in those who create it, Cantwell links bluegrass to its hillbilly roots in Appalachia and shows how the music was transformed by African American folk traditions, the influence of jazz, ragtime, blues, and country music, and the growth of radio and recording technology.

About the Author

Robert Cantwell teaches at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His books include Ethnomimesis: Folklife and the Representation of Culture and When We Were Good: The Folk Revival.