Routledge. Profit - The Music Shelf

Bookwatch, The, Sept, 2004

Routledge

29 West 35th St., New York NY 10001

1-800-634-7064 www.routledge-ny.com

Fans of country music won't want to miss Michael Streissguth's Voices Of The Country: Interviews With Classic Country Performers (0415970423, $19.95): and don't expect light sassy queries here, either. Author Streissguth is a scholar as well as a journalist experienced in researching the backgrounds of Eddy Arnold and Jim reeves for two previous books on the topic, and he has written for some of the country's top country music magazines, so it only goes to tell Voices Of The Country is both studious and revealing, reflecting Streissguth's interviewing prowess. From Loretta Lynn and Eddy Arnold to Chet Atkins, Charly Pride and Hank Locklin, this packs in-depth approaches to some of the biggest country music movers and shakers of our times. Michael Lydon's Songwriting Success: How To Write Songs For Fun And (Maybe) Profit (0415969298, $19.95) comes from a well-known rock journalist who is himself a professional singer and songwriters--and founding editor of Rolling Stone magazine. As such, Michael Lydon is in the perfect place to tell how to break down the craft of melody and lyric writing into lessons for beginners. Chapters take a step-by-step approach in teaching beginning songwriters how to integrate all elements of a song into a commercial, polished result.