New from UNC Press Blog The following is a guest post by Burgin Mathews, author of Magic City: How the Birmingham Jazz Tradition Shaped the Sound of America which is now available wherever books are sold. For much of the twentieth century, the city of Birmingham, Alabama, was home to one of American music’s most essential unsung communities, a thriving network of musicians whose lives helped shape the sound and soul of jazz as we know it. Nurtured in the social institutions of the city’s Black middle class, these musicians carved out a distinctive identity, forging an active tradition at home ..read more

New from UNC Press Blog The following is an excerpt from Magic City: How the Birmingham Jazz Tradition Shaped the Sound of America by Burgin Mathews, available now wherever books are sold. Magic City is the story of one of American music’s essential unsung places: Birmingham, Alabama, birthplace of a distinctive and influential jazz heritage. Blending deep archival research and original interviews with living elders of the Birmingham scene, Mathews elevates the stories of figures like John T. “Fess” Whatley, the pioneering teacher-bandleader who emphasized instrumental training as a means ..read more

New from UNC Press Blog We’ve arrived at another New Books Tuesday! Check out these two titles which are now available wherever books are sold. As always you can browse everything new this month on our Hot Off the Press page or sign up for our monthly e-news to get the list of new books delivered right to your inbox every month. Save 30% on these titles and more during our Holiday Sale with code 01UNCP30 plus get free US shipping on orders over $75. Magic City: How the Birmingham Jazz Tradition Shaped the Sound of America by Burgin Mathews Magic City is the story of one of American music ..read more

New from UNC Press Blog The following is a Q&A with David Menconi, whose second book with UNC PRESS Oh, Didn’t They Ramble: Rounder Records and the Transformation of American Roots Music is available now wherever books are sold. Oh, Didn’t They Ramble is the definitive history of Rounder Records, drawing on previously untapped archives and extensive interviews with artists, Rounder staff, and founders Ken Irwin, Marian Leighton Levy, and Bill Nowlin.  What led you to write Oh, Didn’t They Ramble: Rounder Records and the Transformation of American Roots Music? I covered music for dail ..read more

New from UNC Press Blog Hear Marc Masters discuss his new book HIGH BIAS: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape (on sale 10/3/23; Kirkus Reviews calls it “a thoroughly enjoyable romp”) starting this weekend. Marc will be joined by writers, journalists, and musicians for most of the events below. SATURDAY SEPT 30, 1pm – LOS ANGELES CA 2220 Arts, 2220 Beverly Blvd, in conversation with Dean Spunt SUNDAY OCT 22 – ATLANTA GA Eyedrum, 515 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd, in conversation with Beca Grimm TUESDAY OCT 24, 5:30pm – CHAPEL HILL NC Flyleaf Books, 752 M.L.K. Jr Blvd, in conversation wi ..read more

New from UNC Press Blog Thanks to David Menconi for allowing us to reblog the following post outlining the timeline for writing his forthcoming book Oh, Didn’t They Ramble: Rounder Records and the Transformation of American Roots Music. This post originally appeared on his blog, Losering Books. David is the 2019 North Carolina Piedmont Laureate and was a staff writer at the Raleigh News & Observer for 28 years. He has also written for Rolling Stone, Billboard, Spin and New York Times. He is also the author of Step It Up and Go: The Story of North Carolina Popular Music, from Blind Boy Full ..read more

New from UNC Press Blog Step It Up & Go: The Story of North Carolina Popular Music, from Blind Boy Fuller and Doc Watson to Nina Simone and Superchunk by David Menconi has been selected as the June bookclub selection for North Carolina Reads: North Carolina Humanities’ statewide book club. The NC Reads bookclub is free and has been featuring books from February through June, that explore the history and culture of North Carolina and highlight issues of racial, social, and gender equality. The 2023 book selections pose critical questions about how North Carolinians view their role in h ..read more

New from UNC Press Blog The following is an excerpt of The Future of Rock and Roll: 97X WOXY and the Fight for True Independence by Robin James, which is available wherever books are sold. Becoming the Future of Rock and Roll 1981-1989 Between 1988 and 2010, “The Future of Rock and Roll” was 97X’s “liner” or recorded station ID. Broadcast on air and printed on T-shirts and other station promo items, this phrase was the main way the station represented itself to listeners and advertisers. The phrase represents WOXY’s core feature: its philosophy of independence. The idea that you can only be t ..read more

New from UNC Press Blog Chronicling Stankonia: The Rise of the Hip-Hop South by Regina N. Bradley, a critically acclaimed bestselling UNC Press title, is now available as an audiobook read by Bradley via Libro.fm, Audible, and Kobo. Praise for Chronicling Stankonia: This treatise from leading Southern hip-hop scholar Regina N. Bradley is a revelatory collection of essays—part literary criticism, part sonic analysis, part personal memoir—that serves as an overdue and thrilling intervention on the NYC/L.A.-centric canon of hip-hop criticism. . . . A masterful work of criticism.”—Rolling Stone ..read more

New from UNC Press Blog The following titles are all newly available in paperback from your favorite bookseller. And, if purchasing direct from UNC Press, take 40% off during our 100th Anniversary Sale using promo code 01DAH40 at checkout, and ground shipping is free on U.S. orders that are $75+ (also good on any print book, as well as preorders; a few restrictions apply). Stone Free: Jimi Hendrix in London, September 1966–June 1967 By Jas Obrecht “Jas Obrecht captures the frenzy and the excitement of the most extraordinary moment in rock guitar’s history, when Jimi Hendrix reinvents the ele ..read more