Gone to the Country

Gone to the Country chronicles the life and music of the New Lost City Ramblers, a trio of city-bred musicians who helped pioneer the resurgence of southern roots music during the folk revival of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Formed in 1958 by Mike Seeger, John Cohen, and Tom Paley, the Ramblers introduced the regional styles of southern ballads, blues, string bands, and bluegrass to northerners yearning for a sound and an experience not found in mainstream music. Ray Allen interweaves biography, history, and music criticism to follow the band from its New York roots to its involvement with the commercial folk music boom. Allen details members' struggle to establish themselves amid critical debates about traditionalism brought on by their brand of folk revivalism. He explores how the trio served as a link between southern folk music and northern urban audiences who had little previous exposure to rural roots styles. His research draws on extensive interviews and personal correspondence with band members and analysis of the Ramblers' rich trove of recordings. Ray Allen is a professor of music and American studies at Brooklyn College, City University of New York. His co-edited collections include Ruth Crawford Seeger's Worlds: Innovation and Tradition in Twentieth-Century American Music.