Musicisfundamentaltohumanexistence,aculturaluniversalamongallhumansforalltimes.Itisembeddedinourevolution,encodedinourDNA,whichistosay,essentialtooursurvival.AcademicsinavarietyofdisciplineshaveconsideredthisideatodeviseexplanationsthatRichardManning,alifelongjournalist,findshollow,arcane,incomplete,ivory-towered,andjustplainwrong.Heapproachesthequestionfromawhollydifferentangle,usinghisownguitarandbanjoasinstrumentsofdiscovery.Intheprocess,hefindshimselfdancingincelebrationofmusicroughandrowdy.Americanrootsmusicisnotaproductofaneliteleisureclass,assomeacademicscontend,butofexplosivecreativityamongslaves,hillbillies,fieldhands,drunks,slackers,andhucksters.Yetthesepeople--poor,workingpeople--builtthefoundationsofjazz,gospel,blues,bluegrass,rock’n’roll,andcountrymusic,anunparalleledburstofinvention.Thisisthecounterfactualtotheacademics’story.Thisiswhattellsusmusicisessential,butbypullingthisthread,Manningtakesusdownalong,strangepath,followingmusictodeeperunderstandingsofracism,slavery,inequality,meditation,addiction,thescienceofourbrains,andultimatelytoanenticingglimpseofpurereligion.Usethisbooktofollowwherehisguitarleads.UltimatelyitsingstheAmericanbody,electric.
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