Banjo Cafe

With summer right around the corner and (we hope) a little down time in your schedule we have five superb books to recommend. You can't go wrong with a single one of these and although we've read them all (except for Carlin's book which is on order), don't take our word for it: check out the fantastic ratings on each book yourself at amazon.com which is one of several places we're linking to for purchases.

The only down side to a list like this is there are so many good books we've left off. Got a recommendation you'd like to add? We'd love to see the name and a link where readers might look for it, and in the process maybe we'll pick up something new for ourselves.

The Banjo: America's African Instrument
Laurent Dubois - Belknap Press - March 2016
Get it: amazon.com | Harvard Univ. Press | Elderly Instruments

Crowe on the Banjo: The Music Life of J. D. Crowe
Marty Godbey - Univ. of Illinois Press - Sept. 2011
Get it: amazon.com | Univ. of Illinois Press | Elderly Instruments

Crowe on the Banjo: The Music Life of J. D. Crowe received the Best Historical Research in Country, Folk or Ethnic Music Award from the Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC), 2012. Received the Print Media Person of the Year Award from the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), 2012.

Pretty Good for a Girl: Women in Bluegrass
Murphy Hicks Henry - Univ. of Illinois Press - June 2013
Get it: from author | amazon.com | Univ. of Illinois Press | Elderly Instruments

Murphy Henry received a Distinguished Achievement Award from the International Bluegrass Musical Association (IBMA), 2015.

Satan Is Real: The Ballad of the Louvin Brothers
Charlie Louvin - Igniter Press - January 2013
Get it: amazon.com | Elderly Instruments

Not a banjo-centric book, but widely acknowledged as one of the finest ever written about early country/roots music. A true blockbuster, and who doesn't love the Louvin Brothers???

Banjo: An Illustrated History by Bob Carlin (pre-order)
Bob Carlin - Hal Leonard Publishers - June 2016
Get it: amazon.com | Hal Leonard | Elderly Instruments