'America Over the Water' has been long out of print, and this revised edition, complete with a new introduction from Shirley herself, is an essential read for anyone interested in folk and roots music.
The book documents Collins' early travels with American ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax and gives an account of her year-long term as assistant to the legendary historian and folklorist. Together, they travelled to Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Georgia, discovering Mississippi Fred McDowell and many others, in their tireless work to uncover the traditional music of America’s heartland.
Blending the personal story of Shirley Collins’ relationship with Lomax and offering a unique first-hand account of a country on the brink of the civil rights era, America Over the Water cuts right to the heart of the blues in a fascinating account of Collins’ and Lomax’s ground-breaking journey across the southern states of the USA to record the music that started it all.
Size: 136 x 214mm
Pages: 208
Publisher: White Rabbit