Hard Luck Blues

''These photos . . . strike universal chords . . . with both sweet and bittersweet romance.''--Oxford American''Anyone who thinks they know something about American music could stand to spend a few hours pawing through Hard Luck Blues, Rich Remsberg's stunning collection of Farm Security Administration photographs. These beautiful, unprompted shots remind us of what things looked like--sad, wild eyes, hands pressed to steel strings, an instrument in every room--back when music was as necessary (and as instinctive) as breathing.''--Amanda Petrusich, author of It Still Moves: Lost Songs, Lost Highways, and the Search for the Next American Music ''Hard Luck Blues is more than a tribute to the capturing of an important moment in American history. The book is a testimony to the universal human conditions of struggle and hope and to the necessity of music not only to see us through but to map out who we become.''--Abigail Washburn, musician ''Rich Remsberg's brilliant selection of photographs broadens and deepens our understanding and appreciation of American music. It is a potent reminder of the wealth and variety of music played by ''ordinary folks,'' from church singers and hoedown fiddlers to brass bands and barroom entertainers. The result is a moving historical document, a feast for the eyes, and spur to the imagination.''--Elijah Wald, musician and author of Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues