My Black Country by Alice Randall
From Vanderbilt Professor, award-winning songwriter, novelist, and author Alice Randall comes a lyrical account of the unrecognized group of Black musicians known as First Family of Black Country alongside an unflinching and deeply personal self-examination.
“A poetic textbook of a history that has been erased”
—Rosanne Cash, Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member, and New York Times bestselling author of Composed: A Memoir
“Alice Randall is the perfect trailblazer to shine this light. In her book My Black Country, she hits all the notes of a great country song. She makes you smile, makes you cry, makes you realize the difficulty and beauty of these very human stories. The profound influence Black artists have had on the genre is so eloquently described, beautifully encapsulated in her own trailblazing role as the first Black woman to co-write a number-one country hit.
She’s a treasure.”
—Brad Paisley, Grammy award-winning country artist
“Alice’s unique position in Nashville, her family background, her talent for word craft, and her insatiable thirst for the truth position her as a much-needed voice and perspective on this seminal and overlooked piece of American cultural history.”
—Rhiannon Giddens, Pulitzer Prize and Grammy award-winning musical artist
"I loved reading about Alice Randall’s path to Nashville, as only she can tell it. My own journey to Music City could not have been more different than hers, but what we share is a passion for the music, and a determination to see the dream through, no matter the obstacle.”
—Trisha Yearwood, Grammy, ACM, and CMA Award-winning artist and New York Times bestselling author
“My Black Country pulsates with rhythms of suffering turned to melodies of enlightenment that is the closest thing we are likely to hear [to] John Lee Hooker and George Jones having a baby.”
—Michael Eric Dyson, Distinguished University Professor at Vanderbilt and New York Times bestselling author of The Black Presidency and Tears We Cannot Stop
“In a lesser writer’s hands, this book would reek of tracing or self-satisfied spectacle. In Alice Randall’s deft hands, we find a form unafraid of the joyful splinters in our national trauma and the saltiness of our region’s sweetest, most lasting creation.”
—Kiese Laymon, 2022 MacArthur Fellow and author of Long Division, Heavy, and How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America
“Randall’s knowledge and respect for the performers and musicians who came before her permeates this lyrical memoir/music history hybrid. Country music fans will relish reading it.”
—Library Journal
"Randall beautifully weaves together history and her personal story in a narrative informed by a deep love of country music, her commitment to undoing an ugly legacy of whitewashing, and her determination to change the face of Nashville to create space for herself and other Black artists.”
—Booklist, Starred Review
“Alice Randall’s My Black Country is a celebration of all things country music—including the wonderful mixture of people and traditions that contributed to this most American of art forms. She has a songwriter’s gift for storytelling and an ear for the sounds that ricocheted around the country, from southern hamlets to northern cities.”
—Ken Burns, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker
"Essential… A delightful, inspirational story of persistence, resistance, and sheer love of music.”
—Kirkus, Starred Review
"A landmark book and an essential starting point for conversations about the nature of country music. It is true that mainstream dialogue comes late in country’s history, but coupled with Cowboy Carter, My Black Country feels right on time."
—Bookpage, Starred Review
—Rosanne Cash, Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member, and New York Times bestselling author of Composed: A Memoir
“Alice Randall is the perfect trailblazer to shine this light. In her book My Black Country, she hits all the notes of a great country song. She makes you smile, makes you cry, makes you realize the difficulty and beauty of these very human stories. The profound influence Black artists have had on the genre is so eloquently described, beautifully encapsulated in her own trailblazing role as the first Black woman to co-write a number-one country hit.
She’s a treasure.”
—Brad Paisley, Grammy award-winning country artist
“Alice’s unique position in Nashville, her family background, her talent for word craft, and her insatiable thirst for the truth position her as a much-needed voice and perspective on this seminal and overlooked piece of American cultural history.”
—Rhiannon Giddens, Pulitzer Prize and Grammy award-winning musical artist
"I loved reading about Alice Randall’s path to Nashville, as only she can tell it. My own journey to Music City could not have been more different than hers, but what we share is a passion for the music, and a determination to see the dream through, no matter the obstacle.”
—Trisha Yearwood, Grammy, ACM, and CMA Award-winning artist and New York Times bestselling author
“My Black Country pulsates with rhythms of suffering turned to melodies of enlightenment that is the closest thing we are likely to hear [to] John Lee Hooker and George Jones having a baby.”
—Michael Eric Dyson, Distinguished University Professor at Vanderbilt and New York Times bestselling author of The Black Presidency and Tears We Cannot Stop
“In a lesser writer’s hands, this book would reek of tracing or self-satisfied spectacle. In Alice Randall’s deft hands, we find a form unafraid of the joyful splinters in our national trauma and the saltiness of our region’s sweetest, most lasting creation.”
—Kiese Laymon, 2022 MacArthur Fellow and author of Long Division, Heavy, and How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America
“Randall’s knowledge and respect for the performers and musicians who came before her permeates this lyrical memoir/music history hybrid. Country music fans will relish reading it.”
—Library Journal
"Randall beautifully weaves together history and her personal story in a narrative informed by a deep love of country music, her commitment to undoing an ugly legacy of whitewashing, and her determination to change the face of Nashville to create space for herself and other Black artists.”
—Booklist, Starred Review
“Alice Randall’s My Black Country is a celebration of all things country music—including the wonderful mixture of people and traditions that contributed to this most American of art forms. She has a songwriter’s gift for storytelling and an ear for the sounds that ricocheted around the country, from southern hamlets to northern cities.”
—Ken Burns, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker
"Essential… A delightful, inspirational story of persistence, resistance, and sheer love of music.”
—Kirkus, Starred Review
"A landmark book and an essential starting point for conversations about the nature of country music. It is true that mainstream dialogue comes late in country’s history, but coupled with Cowboy Carter, My Black Country feels right on time."
—Bookpage, Starred Review
Alice Randall is a New York Times bestselling novelist, award-winning songwriter, and educator. She is widely recognized as one of the most significant voices in modern Black fiction and has emerged as an innovative food activist committed to reforms that support healthy bodies and healthy communities. She lives in Nashville where she writes country songs.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781668018408 |
| ISBN 10 | 1668018403 |
| Title | My Black Country |
| Author | Alice Randall |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
| Year published | 2024-05-09 |
| Number of pages | 288 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |