Montana Americana Music - by Aaron Parrett (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Montana's relationship to Americana music is as wide and deep as the famed Missouri River that inspired countless musicians seated at its shores. From the fiddling of Pierre Cruzatte and George Gibson in the Corps of Discovery to the modern-day loner folk of Joey Running Crane and Cameron Boster, the Treasure State inspires the production of top-notch country music. In the 1950s, bands like the Snake River Outlaws fostered a long-standing love of hillbilly honky-tonk, and in the 1970s, the Mission Mountain Wood Band added a homegrown flavor of its own. Contemporary acts like the Lil' Smokies and songwriter Martha Scanlan promise a vibrant future for the local sound. Author and musician Aaron Parrett explores this history to show what it means to boot stomp in Big Sky Country.

Review Quotes

There is so much here, beginning with an attempt to define just what Americana music is. A definition acceptable to all is probably impossible, but a roll call of names summoned in the introduction is something of a definition in itself: Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Gram Parsons, Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, Bill Monroe and Bob Dylan... In addition to the big-picture stuff, oddball nuggets of gold are scattered throughout the text... [Parrett] writes with the depth and precision of a scholar and the passion of a real music lover. I can only hope he has a few more books about Montana music on his to-do list.