From Almeda to Zilphia (e-book) (used book) | Stephen Koch | bookbook.eu

Description

Arkansas has played an outsized role in American culture, especially its music. From Almeda To Zilphia: Arkansas Women Who Transformed American Popular Song profiles artists who've influenced music around the world in ways we're still discovering, even while these women's stories have too often been overlooked, forgotten, or never told, despite their collective cultural impact.

From A to Z across the decades, the book features a wide cross-section of inspirational creatives with the common thread of ties to a state in the American South with a deep musical heritage-The Natural State. Part history, part art, and part music, From Almeda To Zilphia covers a variety of musical styles, including gospel (Rosetta Tharpe), opera (Marjorie Lawrence), blues (Sippie Wallace), folk ballads (Almeda Riddle), dance-pop (Beth Ditto), classical (Florence Price), and country (K.T. Oslin). There are surprises too, like Maya Angelou's side career as a calypso singer, and Carrie Cash, who recognized that her son, Johnny, had "the gift."

Working from often hard-to-find historic photographs, vivid portraits by renowned artist Katherine Strause of the thirty women profiled make plain the strength and artistry of these cultural pioneers. With a thoughtful forward by professor Dr. Cherisse Jones-Branch and a heart-wrenching afterword by acclaimed country music songwriter Erin Enderlin, From Almeda To Zilphia is written by musician and award-winning journalist Stephen Koch, writer and host of the syndicated public radio program Arkansongs.