"Actually, the nature of freedom has long been debated, and I’m not going to solve it here. But I do believe the Beats advanced a more universal notion of freedom, a kind of animating spirit. And that spirit inhabits more than literature—music is also key to its transmission. That spirit has dimmed in our current times. But existence is cyclical, and there is always renewal."

Casey Rae: Let The Rock…

"It’s hard for me to believe that one can’t live without culture - especially art - which to me is music, poetry, literature as well as the visual arts. I think without the appreciation of the arts, then one is lost within their culture. Art is just as important as food."

Tosh Berman:

Growing Up in Wallace Berman's…

"Throughout the world, poetry and music have been forerunners in challenging the mindsets of people. Irrespective of the genre and language both music and poetry have constantly motivated people into thinking differently, into rising in revolt against mediocre or oppressive thought processes."

Maitreyee B Chowdhury: Bangalore Blues

Maitreyee B…

"Mainly I see rural folk music as a manifestation of how well a given culture resists assimilation and influence from the outside. A robust folk music can only exist if it has confidence in itself, if it esteems itself and if its purpose is embraced by the community that created it."

Christopher C. King: Lament from Epirus

Christopher C. King, is…

"On one hand, not as significant as it could or should be in our present global climate. On another level, literature is the net in which all of these phenomena are gently and tactfully caught. Like a net, literature is full of gaps and threaded apertures that allow us to see how issues of gender, race, culture and politics implicate and comprise our human reality. Music of certain ilks does this too."…

"The Beat writers raise interesting paradoxes worth exploring.  The Beats are, in many ways, out of step with the current American climate of identity politics.  To say that the Beats are politically incorrect is an understatement.  Their desire to celebrate life outside the margins led them to exalt minority experience in ways that are clearly viewed as racist today, despite their celebratory tone."…

"I’m afraid it’s not that big and crucial. Most artists choose the path of political apathy. Only a few seem determined to publish their views on the modern world, and influence people, but I truly don’t know if they have any real and meaningful impact."

Giannis Goranitis: Suburban Railway Blues

Giannis Goranitis was born in Athens Greece, were he…

"My hopes for the future that Memphis club owners would have more respect for the entertainers in town and double the fee they pay their talent. I also wish that the music would start earlier."

Ron Hall: Let The Memphis Rocks Roll 

Ron Hall's newest Memphis history book production is a history of Memphis concerts including incredible…

"Music moves people emotionally. That bypasses a lot of bullshit. But music can also be used to sell you a car or a candidate. Who knows."

Jimmy McDonough: Literary Blues

Jimmy McDonough is a biographer…

"Mark Twain was at the font of the American vernacular style the blues and jazz gave Impetus to, and we can put Walt Whitman, Stephen Crane, Jack London, a few others there, too. Then read the fiction of Dasheill Hammett, Enest Hemingway, Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac, Ishmael Reed, Chester Himes – "hear" the rhythms and snap of their language, the sounds of people meeting in the streets and taverns of modern cities –…

"I hope that people keep listening to the old blues, and that new people will come along and get to know it and get the same pleasure that I get from it."

Richard Wall: Real Hobo Bluestales

Richard Wall…

"I miss his humor, his insights into so many things and his friendship."

Bob Zappa: Growing Up Zappa 

Charles Robert “Bobby” Zappa was composer and rock musician Frank Zappa’s younger brother by three…

"I think the Blues is still there you know. Since I started to listen to the Blues people told me that the Blues is dead and is still there. Of course is not the same Blues. I would say that there are several kinds of Blues now, I would say several base music."

Gerard Herzhaft: Portraits en…

"All of the best literature is countercultural because it challenges commonly accepted ways of thinking and living."

Hassan Melehy: Langue, Poésie et Musique

Hassan Melehy is Professor of…

"From blues and rock and roll, I learned that making every note matter brings great insight into our lives, our shared humanity and concerns. It brings Joy, rhapsody, and peace of mind to the listener. These forms of music teach us to be our better selves."

Jas Obrecht: Rockin' & Talkin'…

"In the counterculture at large it's the idea of independence — thinking for yourself  — expressing yourself — being yourself — in a long line from Neal & Allen to flower children to green hair to sex changes to hugely popular stoner films."

Brian Hassett: The Beat State Of…

"The main reason is that all the best stuff happened in the 1960s and 1970s. It was stimulating to live through it and see everything unfold. It’s another thing altogether to read them for the first time now and try to appreciate that excitement."

Patrick Rosenkranz: A Wonderful…

"The arts, all of them, are a collective conversation about the human experience, and they are a conversation we are having together."

John Brantingham:

The Truth of…

"Blues has had a cyclical popularity, and we are still waiting for the next artist to rejuvenate it for a mass audience like Stevie did in the 1980's. "

Craig Hopkins: The Lone Star Of Stevie…