My Country Roots

Containing 100 recommended playlists for downloading, this book is the best and most unique way to explore the Country music genre in a modern easy, convenient way. Each playlist walks you through the history, culture, and relevance of Country music, revealing the authenticity and raw truth that represents Country.

How do you define rockabilly? Who were the original "outlaws" of Country music? Where can you go to hear great music in Austin, Texas? My Country Roots answers all these questions and hundreds more! It is a resource that will help you fill your mp3 player with the essential Country songs, while impressing your friends with your knowledge of the ultimate outsider art. Containing 100 recommended playlists for downloading, this book is the best and most unique way to explore the Country music genre in a modern easy, convenient way. Each playlist walks you through the history, culture, and relevance of Country music, revealing the authenticity and raw truth that represents Country. Whether you are a long-time lover of Country music or just discovering the genre, this book will help you not only organize your music, but explore, evaluate, and critique the music while learning about the basics of Country?what we sound like, what we believe in, where we've come from, and where we're goin'. This guide also provides a behind the scenes look at some of the cities that have spawned the greatest music of the genre and films that have contributed to the mystique which defines Country. For all you music lovers, mp3 users, or folks who are interested in discovering or rediscovering your country roots, this is a book you can't live without!

On the cusp of her college graduation, Teagan Matthews thinks she knows what the future holds. After all, she and her business-partner-boyfriend have it all figured out. But when the two of them break up, Teagan is left holding the shreds of a once-secure life. When her Marine Veteran brother invites her to stay with him in Sunset, Texas, she accepts. In a new town, making brand new friends, Teagan experiences the freedom to explore who she is and what she really wants in life. But tapping into her country roots comes with more than she bargains for, including a budding romance with someone she never expected. As she uncovers past wounds, will she be able to let go of her parents' haughty opinions and the bruises left on her heart by her former flame? Or will the past destroy her future once again, even as she's falling for her brother's best friend?

Country music's debt to African American music has long been recognized. Black musicians have helped to shape the styles of many of the most important performers in the country canon. The partnership between Lesley Riddle and A. P. Carter produced much of the Carter Family's repertoire; the street musician Tee Tot Payne taught a young Hank Williams Sr.; the guitar playing of Arnold Schultz influenced western Kentuckians, including Bill Monroe and Ike Everly. Yet attention to how these and other African Americans enriched the music played by whites has obscured the achievements of black country-music performers and the enjoyment of black listeners. The contributors to Hidden in the Mix examine how country music became "white," how that fictive racialization has been maintained, and how African American artists and fans have used country music to elaborate their own identities. They investigate topics as diverse as the role of race in shaping old-time record catalogues, the transracial West of the hick-hopper Cowboy Troy, and the place of U.S. country music in postcolonial debates about race and resistance. Revealing how music mediates both the ideology and the lived experience of race, Hidden in the Mix challenges the status of country music as "the white man’s blues." Contributors. Michael Awkward, Erika Brady, Barbara Ching, Adam Gussow, Patrick Huber, Charles Hughes, Jeffrey A. Keith, Kip Lornell, Diane Pecknold, David Sanjek, Tony Thomas, Jerry Wever

From Growing Up Country: “I learned early in life that country is not a place on a map. Country is a place in your heart. In your soul. In the very depth of your being.” —Bill Anderson “One of the things I like most about country life is that nothing much has really changed . . . My grandchildren and I are still walking and hunting in the same woods and fishing in the same creeks as I did with my father.” —President Jimmy Carter “Food was at the heart of our home. And, other than those troublesome vegetables, I loved all of it. We fried everything—we’d have even fried water if we could’ve.” —Keith Anderson “I can’t imagine what my life would have been without peaceful days, mountain streams, homegrown and home-cooked food, country church, and all-day singing with dinner on the grounds with family and friends.” —Dolly Parton “Growing up country—there’s nothing like it. It’s growing up with your grandmother and granddaddy around . . . it’s a lot of love when you need it, great cooking in the kitchen, and always being real.” —Eddie Montgomery Blackberry pie on the window ledge. The Grand Ole Opry on the radio. Sunday dinners on the table. Families swinging on the front porch after a hard day’s work. It’s all part of the country way of life. Here, legendary country music singer Charlie Daniels introduces and edits a collection of heartfelt essays from an all-star cast of contributors on what it means to grow up country. United by a love of music, these notables show us that country means more than just the twang of a guitar. They share a belief in hard work, integrity, strength of character, and having the courage not to quit. The stories here tell of rustic upbringings and rich spirits, of parents who believed in tough love and old-fashioned common sense, and of a strong sense of community, pride in your country, and a love of the natural world. You’ll get an intimate glimpse into the lives of: Country music royalty and all-time greats: such as Dolly Parton, Barbara Mandrell, Brenda Lee, Dobie Gray, and Lee Greenwood Southern rock gods: such as Gary Rossington and Donnie Van Zant The newest crop of stars: such as Sara Evans, Toby Keith, and Clint Black Special guests: such as former president Jimmy Carter, and seven-time all around rodeo champion Ty Murray These snapshots show how living country has allowed our favorite singers, songwriters, and stage performers to make a career out of doing what they love while never forgetting that when you’ve grown up country, home isn’t just a place where you live, it’s a state of the heart.

The Incredible Rags-to-Riches Story of One of the Bestselling Female Artists of All Time Shania Twain has risen from humble beginnings in a dirt-poor mining town in Northern Canada to amazing heights of superstardom. At the age of eight her mother was taking her to sing in lumberjack bars; now she shares a Swiss mansion and an estate in New Zealand with her record-producer husband and is worth more than $100 million. Hits such as "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" and "That Don't Impress Me Much" ensured that her third album, Come On Over, became the bestselling album in country-music history and her astounding crossover to mainstream music swiftly followed. Her life, however, has remained the subject of speculation and controversy. British music journalist Robin Eggar has talked to Shania's close friends, family, business associates -- and to Shania herself -- to build an insightful, rounded portrait of a woman whose Cinderella tale has become a fable for our times.

Return for a fifth time with Pastor Blackstone to the fabled land of India and discover more biblical precepts and life-changing concepts as he travels again with his good friend Shibu Simon to "earth's farthest bounds." This time the Maine pastor will speak at three Indian graduations in three days in two different Indian states, witness a baptism in a cattle trough, get up close and personal with a temple elephant that had just blessed a house, and travel through eight Indian states in ten days while journeying the length and breadth of India in a four-thousand-mile odyssey. That odyssey will include visiting the Taj Mahal by water, the Red Fort of Agra, the Golden Temple of the Sikhs, a hostel in Delhi, and the guru caves of Udayagiri. Experience your first cycle rickshaw ride in Amritsar, your first rural hospital in Uttar Pradesh, your fifth Indian train ride through Haryana, and a surprising side-trip to Orissa. These encounters and experiences will cause you to think what is possible if you step out of your comfort zone and journey to "earth's farthest bounds" on business for the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords--Jesus Christ!

I have witnessed the trial and tribulations that special needs Christian parents go thru on a daily basis. Their struggles are real and many, triumphs are few, but their unwavering love is truly commendable. This book tries to convey, in some poems, a perceived view from the inside of a special need child's mind toward their parents or through an interaction with another person. The book is broken into four distinct categories as follows: Special Needs""meant to convey pro life and challenges faced head on by caring parents, Kids stories""stories with kids in mind with a Christian moral as the ending, Patriotic""two patriotic poems from a want to be soldier to a twenty plus years military retired soldier, and Christian life""comprised of some of my own personal events, other Christian love poems or stories. The book was written and submitted for publishing to convey message that we, as true Christians, must be more sympathetic to those less fortunate than us. To encourage, embrace, and help those that need our support whether it be a special needs child, parent, or caretaker of a special needs child or sick person and especially a sick child in a children's hospital.