In My TBR Stack:

Mojo Triangle: Birthplace of Country, Blues, Jazz and Rock 'n' Roll
by James L. Dickerson
Sartoris Literary Group
Trade Paperback

From the publisher's website:

At long last—the truth about the birth of the blues, rock 'n' roll, country and jazz!

Draw a straight line from New Orleans to Nashville, then over to Memphis and then follow the Mississippi River back down to New Orleans, and you have the Mojo Triangle, a phrase coined by the author in the early 2000's.

"So much of what has been written about the music of the South is untrue," says Dickerson. "I wanted to set the record straight and put the development of the music in perspective. The Mojo Triangle is where all of America's original roots music was created: country, blues, jazz, and rock 'n' roll. How did this music come about? What is there about the Mojo Triangle that has contributed to the creation of so much original music?"

The book points out that although the music itself was created in the geographical area defined by the Mojo Triangle, the two portals through which the various musical components entered and then morphed into the finished products were Natchez, Mississippi and Nashville, Tennessee, with the Natchez Trace serving as the main artery.

Based on interviews with the recording artists, musicians, producers and songwriters who created and performed the music, it traces the development of the music from the early 1800s in Natchez, Mississippi, where Native Americans played an instrumental role in the development of the blues, all the way up to the present day.

There is probably no author in history who has interviewed as many music legends and musicians as the author—and the reader benefits from that experience in a big way. Among the music legends who participate are: Al Green, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. King, Carl Perkins, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, Chet Atkins, Ike Turner, Jack Clement, Marty Stuart, Mose Allison, Rita Coolidge, Roy Orbison, Scotty Moore, Tammy Wynette, Vince Gill, Waylon Jennings, Garth Brooks, Chips Moman, Billy Sherrill, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Jimme Vaughan, Willie Mitchell, Booker T. & the MGs, Bobby Womack, Estelle Axton, Dave Edmunds, Pinetop Perkins, Bobbie Gentry, and the list goes on and on.

This incredible book, which contains rare photographs, some of which were taken by the author himself, not only allows the music greats themselves to express themselves about the music they made famous, it explains for the first time the development of  that music.

In My TBR Stack:

Recipes and Road Stories
by Hannah and Caroline Melby
Sartoris Literary Group
Trade Paperback

From the publisher's website:

Recipes and Road Stories from Hannah and Caroline Melby of the band HanaLena, as the title indicates, will recount stories from their adventures on the road and blend those stories with the women’s favorite recipes, and recipes from celebrity friends—and top everything off with plenty of exciting photographs of the performers. It will be published in Fall 2014. HanaLena is an acoustic country music group that was declared the “Best New Act in Country Music” at the 2008 Colgate Showdown in the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Hannah and Caroline are sisters who grew up in Starkville, Mississippi.

“Hannah and Caroline remind me so much of the Dixie Chicks,” says SLG president James L. Dickerson, whose biographyDixie Chicks: Down-Home and Backstage, was the first in-depth analysis of that group’s road to success. “Their musicianship is superb—and they have the grit, vision and good humor to make it to the top.”