It all starts when Southern Belle Lollie Woolfolk sashays into Rick Shannon's office at Rockin' Vestigations in Vicksburg. She hires him to find the grandfather she never met, one-time blues producer Tucker Woolfolk. The day after Rick finds him, the old man is murdered. A couple of days later, Tucker Woolfolk's former partner is killed too. Then Lollie Woolfolk disappears. Things start to get weird when another woman claiming to be Lollie Woolfolk shows up and hires him to find out who killed the two men and why. Rick's investigation turns up evidence pointing to the legendary Blind, Crippled, and Crazy sessions, a fabled blues recording date featuring Blind Buddy Cotton, Crippled Willie Jefferson, and Crazy Earl Tate. Blues scholars have been searching for these tapes for fifty years. But no one has ever killed for them. Until now. Rick and Lollie soon find themselves looking back half a century to solve the case and it takes them up famed Highway 61 to places rich in the history of the blues. A place where, for the past fifty years, certain people have worked very hard to keep the lid on some unsavoury business. Reviews of the DJ Rick Shannon series 'Hilarious - and dead on. Fitzhugh treats us to a tragicomic tour of regional black-and blues history.' New York Times 'Fast, funny, and fabulous. This is Fitzhugh's finest - and that's saying a lot!' Jill Conner Browne 'A lost-tapes mystery - all blues mysteries are lost-tapes mysteries - but unlike the rest, this pays off with a climax so rich you want to hear the tapes as much as the people hunting them down.' Greil Marcus

Mute Records is one of the most influential, commercially successful, and long-lasting of the British independent record labels formed in the wake of the late-1970's punk explosion. Yet, in comparison with contemporaries such as Rough Trade or Stiff, its legacy remains under-explored. This edited collection addresses Mute's wide-ranging impact. Drawing from disciplines such as popular music studies, musicology, and fan studies, it takes a distinctive, artist-led approach, outlining the history of the label by focusing each chapter on one of its acts. The book covers key moments in the company's evolution, from the first releases by The Normal and Fad Gadget to recent work by Arca and Dirty Electronics. It shines new light on the most successful Mute artists, including Depeche Mode, Nick Cave, Erasure, Moby, and Goldfrapp, while also exploring the label's avant-garde innovators, such as Throbbing Gristle, Mark Stewart, Labaich, Ut, and Swans. Mute Records examines the business and aesthetics of independence through the lens of the label's artists.

As a constantly evolving and developing industry, the music business environment continues to establish new standards in terms of operational efficiency, dynamics between the different parties involved in the professional cycles, and constructing and performing methodologies in the process of achieving the desired results that all the participants in the music world have to adapt to in order to establish a sustainable career. Hence, the main purpose of this book is to provide practical advice suitable to both aspiring music professionals and artists that need detailed guidance in the process of developing the basis of a fruitful, promising, and sustainable profile, not only in terms of business performance, but psychologically as well.

From shifts in format, through the effects on circulation and ownership, to the rise of digitally-produced genres, the ways we create, share and listen to music have changed fundamentally. In Popular Music, Digital Technology and Society, Nick Prior explores the social, cultural and industrial contexts in which these shifts have taken place. Both accessible and authoritative, the book: Clarifies key concepts such as assemblage, affordance, mediation and musicking and defines new concepts such as playsumption and digital vocalities Considers the impact of music production technologies such as MIDI, sampling, personal computing and smartphone apps Looks at the ways in which the internet shapes musical consumption, from viral marketing to streaming services Examines the effects of mobile audio devices on everyday social interactions Opens up new ways to think and write about the personal experience of making and performing digital music This book is an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to understand the place of popular music in contemporary culture and society. It will be fascinating reading for students and researchers across media and communication studies, sociology, cultural studies and the creative industries.

From shifts in format, through the effects on circulation and ownership, to the rise of digitally-produced genres, the ways we create, share and listen to music have changed fundamentally. In Popular Music, Digital Technology and Society, Nick Prior explores the social, cultural and industrial contexts in which these shifts have taken place. Both accessible and authoritative, the book: Clarifies key concepts such as assemblage, affordance, mediation and musicking and defines new concepts such as playsumption and digital vocalities Considers the impact of music production technologies such as MIDI, sampling, personal computing and smartphone apps Looks at the ways in which the internet shapes musical consumption, from viral marketing to streaming services Examines the effects of mobile audio devices on everyday social interactions Opens up new ways to think and write about the personal experience of making and performing digital music This book is an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to understand the place of popular music in contemporary culture and society. It will be fascinating reading for students and researchers across media and communication studies, sociology, cultural studies and the creative industries.

In this work, Dave Haslam travels Britain to meet clubbers and promoters: he hangs out with Sasha in Glasgow, Fatboy Slim in Nottingham, Paul van Dyk in Cardiff, Norman Jay at the Southport Soul Weekender, and Lottie in Newcastle. He meets influential DJs like Pete Tong, pioneers including Jimmy Saville, younger DJs, and unknowns. He interviews mod DJs from the 60s, Northern Soul DJs from the 70s and rare groove DJs from the 80s. He follows aspiring turntablists in the DMC mixing championship, from the heats in Birmingham to the world final. Among the exclusive stories and tall tales, we hear about the millionaire DJ who went to a friend's wedding dressed as a bee, the Radio One DJ who emptied a dancefloor in Ibiza, and the DJ who set a girl's hair on fire. A sweeping history of the rise of the DJ industry - from the amateur DJ in the local village hall, through the pioneering DJ's of the 60s and 70s, to the superclub DJ's of the late 1990s.

The Enterprising Musician's Guide to Performer Contracts is an empowering resource that provides detailed, plain-language explanations of the clauses commonly found in legal agreements such as engagement (gig) contracts, artist-management contracts, and producer agreements. Musicians from all musical styles will be able to decipher contracts offered to them and improve terms to their benefit. In clear detail, David Williams dissects the most common clauses in performer contracts, revealing how to avoid pitfalls and properly amend content to address each musician's needs. Seasoned performers, emerging artists, and music students of all levels will find this handy volume an invaluable compendium of conflict-free guidance as they navigate their careers in the music industry.

"The Guerilla Guide to the Music Business" is chatty and informal, and it's full of useful, hard-earned advice telling you how to get ahead in the music business. Through interviews with industry experts in the US and the UK, "The Guerilla Guide" gives priceless tips on every aspect of gigging - from rehearsals to foreign tours. It takes you through the process of recording, from home-made demos to releasing your own finished product and radio promotion. "The Guerilla Guide to the Music Business" also explains what managers, publishers, PR people, accountants, and lawyers can do for you, and when and why you will need their services. It's a book that will help you enjoy what you do, avoid too many pitfalls, and maybe even help you have a hit or two along the way.

(Lillenas Publications). Worship drama has become a viable tool for training and outreach. The Worship Drama Library Series is a premier collection of sketches to use as sermon starters or anytime a thought-provoking dramatic presentation is needed. While such scripts are often written without closure (allowing for a follow-up sermon), open-ended and resolved scripts are both provided, giving them greater versatility. Topics covered in this volume include: need for direction, death and afterlife, lifestyle evangelism, portrait of God, following Christ, admitting guilt, well-rounded people, missions, effects of fear, parental love, witnessing, and emotional healing.

(Lillenas Publications). Worship drama has become a viable tool for training and outreach. The Worship Drama Library Series has become a premier collection of sketches to use as sermon starters or anytime a thought-provoking dramatic presentation is needed. Variety is the key to this Cohagan collection. Themes are varied and scripts require no staging. Topics covered include: worship participation, materialism, moral outrage, gift of love, marriage, missions, prayer, gentle spirit, nursery attendants, church and secular world, Christian friendship, death.

(Lillenas Publications). Worship drama has become a viable tool for training and outreach. The Worship Drama Library Series is a premier collection of sketches to use as sermon starters or anytime a thought-provoking dramatic presentation is needed. While such scripts are often written without closure (allowing for a follow-up sermon), open-ended and resolved scripts are both provided, giving them greater versatility. Topics covered in this volume include: physical healing, emotional healing, alcoholism, emotional abandonment, child abuse, generation gap, understanding your spouse, tabloid talk, betrayal, and loneliness.

Written from the viewpoint of a local church teen minister who believes that drama should be used as a participation tool in youth groups and Sunday School classes as well as a performance medium that can communicate Christ. Tim Miller believes that audiences of all ages will respond to teen players. The running theme throughout the book is ministry. Chapters include acting games, evangelism possibilities, staging helps, script selection, and organizational helps that are unique to a teen ministry. 'Teens in Drama Ministry should be required reading for all who work with youth.'--P.M.M.

Andile Gaelesiwe is the adored Khumbul' ekhaya host. She was raped by her father at the age of 11. The second rape was by a taxi driver who beat her up. Andile entered the music scene with the big hit of the late 90s, Abuti Yo. She started Open Disclosure for rape survivors. This fierce, at times funny memoir, an insight into Andile’s consciousness that keeps reviving her will reverberate in young and adult readers.