New book on the New Lost City Ramblers

Thanks to FOAOTMAD for the news that the University of Illinois Press has published Ray Allen's Gone to the country: the New Lost City Ramblers and the folk music revival.

It's hard to believe that it's now fifty-two years since the NLCR first formed (the jacket photo shows the Mk II lineup, with Tracy Schwarz in place of Tom Paley), and it's almost impossible to overstate the importance of this group - both in demonstrating the richness and variety of old-time American rural music, and bridging the gap between the 'folk revival' adherents and the original makers of old-time and bluegrass music. The University of Illinois Press, with its exemplary editorial standards, has done a remarkable job of publishing works on bluegrass and related music, and this addition to their catalogue should get a warm welcome.