Overview

From Almeda To Zilphia: Arkansas Women Who Transformed American Popular Song profiles artists who've influenced music around the world in ways we're still discovering. Despite their collective cultural impact, these women's stories have too often been overlooked, forgotten, or never told. Part history, part art, and part music, the book features a wide cross-section of inspirational creatives across the decades. With surprises like Maya Angelou's side career as a calypso singer and Carrie Cash, who recognized that her son, Johnny, had ""the gift,"" From Almeda To Zilphia covers a wide variety of musical styles: > Gospel-Rosetta Tharpe > Opera-Marjorie Lawrence > Blues-Sippie Wallace > Folk Ballads-Almeda Riddle > Dance-Pop -Beth Ditto > Classical-Florence Price, and > Country-K.T. Oslin Working from often hard-to-find historic photographs, vivid portraits by renowned artist Katherine Strause of the women profiled make plain the strength and artistry of these cultural pioneers. With a thoughtful forward by professor Dr. Cherisse Jones-Branch and a heart-wrenching afterword by acclaimed country music songwriter Erin Enderlin, From Almeda To Zilphia is written by musician and award-winning journalist Stephen Koch, writer and host of the syndicated public radio program Arkansongs.

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9781944528317

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Reviews

""The artists living in the pages of From Almeda to Zilphia-mighty women breaking new ground and creating lasting contributions from country to classical to the foundations of rock 'n' roll-open the door to an endless world of possibilities. This book will no doubt speak to some little girl, no matter her background or what she looks like, and tell her, There is a place for you. A big, beautiful, important place for you. . . . When I feel myself beating my head against the wall of resistance and exclusion, I draw comfort, strength, and inspiration from the artists who have persevered and thrived before me."" -Erin Enderlin, country music artist and songwriter whose songs have been recorded by Alan Jackson, Lee Ann Womack, Randy Travis, Reba McEntire, Willie Nelson, and Trisha Yearwood ""There is no shortage of phenomenal and groundbreaking stories among the women chronicled in these pages. . . . In From Almeda to Zilphia, Arkansas women heretofore unheralded and uncelebrated in American popular music history are now proudly honored and purposefully featured for their historical musical legacies. We are most fortunate to have this fine book in the world to behold their splendor."" -Cherisse Jones-Branch, Ph.D., author of Crossing the Line: Women and Interracial Activism in South Carolina during and after World War II, author of Better Living By Their Own Bootstraps: Black Women's Activism in Rural Arkansas, 1913-1965, and co-editor of Arkansas Women: Their Lives and Times ""When it comes to 'From Almeda to Zilphia' it is the women in the book, not just the book itself, who deserve the spotlight."" -Monica Hooper, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

"""The artists living in the pages of From Almeda to Zilphia-mighty women breaking new ground and creating lasting contributions from country to classical to the foundations of rock 'n' roll-open the door to an endless world of possibilities. This book will no doubt speak to some little girl, no matter her background or what she looks like, and tell her, There is a place for you. A big, beautiful, important place for you. . . . When I feel myself beating my head against the wall of resistance and exclusion, I draw comfort, strength, and inspiration from the artists who have persevered and thrived before me."" -Erin Enderlin, country music artist and songwriter whose songs have been recorded by Alan Jackson, Lee Ann Womack, Randy Travis, Reba McEntire, Willie Nelson, and Trisha Yearwood ""There is no shortage of phenomenal and groundbreaking stories among the women chronicled in these pages. . . . In From Almeda to Zilphia, Arkansas women heretofore unheralded and uncelebrated in American popular music history are now proudly honored and purposefully featured for their historical musical legacies. We are most fortunate to have this fine book in the world to behold their splendor."" -Cherisse Jones-Branch, Ph.D., author of Crossing the Line: Women and Interracial Activism in South Carolina during and after World War II, author of Better Living By Their Own Bootstraps: Black Women's Activism in Rural Arkansas, 1913-1965, and co-editor of Arkansas Women: Their Lives and Times ""When it comes to From Almeda to Zilphia,"" it is the women in the book, not just the book itself, who deserve the spotlight."" -Monica Hooper, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette"

Author Information

Stephen Koch is an artist and an award-winning journalist in both broadcasting and print, with a focus on the culture, history, and music of Arkansas and the Midsouthern United States. An author, musician, songwriter, playwright, and illustrator, Stephen Koch is also writer-host of ""Arkansongs,"" a weekly feature syndicated on public radio affiliates throughout the Midsouth. Katherine Strause is a working artist and educator. She exhibits nationally and her work is in many public and private collections. Strause is the retired Chair of the Art Department and Professor of Painting at Henderson State University. She holds a Bachelor of Art from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a Master of Fine Arts from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.

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