In My TBR Stack:

Strange Beautiful Music: A Musical Memoir
by Joe Satriani and Jake Brown
BenBella Books
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

"Joe has refined his own style of playing to a point where he’s forever up there in the stratosphere of excellence that is reached by very few musicians."
—Brian May

"Every time Joe puts his fingers on a guitar, what comes out sounds like inspired music, even if it’s just a finger exercise. He created and branded a niche with his own voice and in so doing he wielded an entire genre."
—Steve Vai

***

Go behind the scenes with the musician The New York Times called “a guitar God!”

Oft-hailed as the Jimi Hendrix of his generation, living guitar legend Joe Satriani has long-transcended stylistic boundaries with a sound that raises the bar like a new horizon for the broader genre of instrumental guitar rock. Joe’s 6-string secrets have astounded listeners around the world for nearly 30 years.

In Strange Beautiful Music: A Musical Memoir, Joe and co-author, music biographer Jake Brown, take fans on their first authorized tour of the story behind his climb to stardom and the creative odyssey involved in writing and recording of a storied catalog of classics including “Surfing with the Alien,” “Summer Song,” “Satch Boogie,” “Always With Me, Always With You,” “The Extremist,” “Flying in a Blue Dream,” “Crowd Chant,” and more!

Featuring previously unpublished photos and hours of exclusive, first-hand interviews with Satriani, Strange Beautiful Music offers a unique look inside the studio with Joe, giving fans a chance to get up-close and personal like never before. With insider details about his collaboration with multi-platinum supergroup Chickenfoot, exclusive interviews with Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony of Van Halen and Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, first-hand commentary from fellow guitar legends such as Steve Vai, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, Primus’s Larry LaLonde, and legendary music producers including Glynn Johns and the late Andy Johns, this memoir offers a rare inside look for die-hard Satriani fans, guitar enthusiasts, and anyone who loves to rock.

In My TBR Stack:

Nashville Songwriter: The Inside Stories Behind Country Music's Greatest Hits
Jake Brown
BenBella Books
Trade Paperback

From the publisher's website:

Fans of American country music love the personal, relatable stories artists share through their songs. For a country music enthusiast, singing along with a favorite track is more than just jamming to a catchy tune – it’s a way of connecting with the singer’s journey.

Nashville Songwriter gives readers the first completely authorized collection of the true stories that inspired hits by the biggest multi-platinum country superstars of the last half-century – recounted by the songwriters themselves. Award-winning music biographer Jake Brown gives readers an unprecedented, intimate glimpse inside the world of country music songwriting.

Featuring exclusive commentary from country superstars and chapter-length interviews with today’s biggest hit-writers on Music Row, this book chronicles the stories behind smash hits such as:

• Willie Nelson’s “Always on My Mind”
• Tim McGraw’s “Live Like You Were Dying,” “Southern Voice,” and “Real Good Man”
• George Jones’s “Tennessee Whiskey”
• Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus Take the Wheel,” and “Cowboy Cassanova”
• Brooks & Dunn’s “Ain’t Nothin’ Bout You”
• Lady Antebellum’s “We Owned the Night” and “Just a Kiss”
• Brad Paisley’s “Mud on the Tires,” “We Danced,” and “I’m Still a Guy”
• Luke Bryan’s “Crash My Party” and “That’s My Kind of Night”
• The Oak Ridge Boys’ “American Made”
• George Strait’s “Fool Hearted Memory,” “Ocean Front Property,” and “The Best Day,”
• Rascal Flatts’s “Fast Cars and Freedom,” “Why Wait,” and “Take Me There”
• Kenny Chesney’s “Living in Fast Forward” and “When the Sun Goes Down”
• Ricochet’s “Daddy’s Money”
• Montgomery Gentry’s “If You Ever Stop Lovin’ Me”
• The Crickets’ “I Fought the Law”
• Tom T. Hall's “Harper Valley P.T.A.” and “A Week in the County Jail”
• Trace Adkins’s "You’re Gonna Miss This”
• David Lee Murphy’s “Dust on the Bottle”
• Jason Aldean’s “Big Green Tractor” and “Fly Over States”

And many more top country hits over the past 40 years! American