Discovering Country Music - Hardcover

by Don Cusic (Author)

Discovering Country Music chronicles the incredible evolution of country music in America - from the fiddle to the pop charts - and provides an insightful account of the reasons and motives that have determined its various transformations and offshoots over the years. In order to understand what country music is, and why, it is essential to understand how it makes its money -- the basic revenue streams, the major companies involved, and how country artists are booked and marketed. Author Don Cusic helps readers do that, and goes even further, covering not only the business and the technology that have shaped the industry, but also tackling the question of country's relationship to the other major genres of the American recording industry, including pop, blues, and rock music.

Discovering Country Music is broken down into ten sections which include: key musical trends; ancillary business trends such as recording technology, radio, and the recording industry; and prominent artists, including as a small sample Stephen Foster, The Carter Family, Elvis, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Garth Brooks, The Dixie Chicks, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and Kenny Chesney. This work should appeal to fans, scholars, educators, libraries and the general reader alike.

Author Biography

Don Cusic is an internationally known scholar and writer, one of the premier historians of country music, and a pioneer in the field of music business education -- developing courses, curriculum, and material for the music business programs at Belmont University and Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU). As an author, teacher, historian, songwriter, and executive, Cusic has been actively involved in the music business since 1973. He is also the author of sixteen published books, including the biography Eddy Arnold: I'll Hold You In My Heart and an encyclopedia, Cowboys and the Wild West: An A-Z Guide from the Chisholm Trail to the Silver Screen.