It Still Moves: Lost Songs, Lost Highways, and the Search for the Next American Music

Publishers Weekly

In this musical road trip, Petrusich (staff writer for Pitchforkmedia.com and author of Pink Moon) lights out into the country to discover what constitutes American music and the ways that it influences the music that has come to be known as Americana. Much like famed musicologist Alan Lomax-the man instrumental in introducing Delta blues to the world-Petrusich searches high and low, from Memphis and Nashville to Gainesville, Fla., and New York City for the many strains that compose the chorus of American music. In a narrative that is often humorous, Petrusich discovers the usual suspects-Lomax, Harry Smith and Smithsonian Folkways, Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, Elvis, Robert Johnson-but pulls out most of the shopworn stories about them. Moe Asch, for instance, who started Folkways Recordings in 1948 (later bought by the Smithsonian in 1987), famously turned down both Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, saying that they were both just singers that didn't have anything to say. Asch's label was so significant to the development of American music that Dylan has since commented that, early on, he had "envisioned myself recording on Folkway Records." For all her excursions into various regions of the country and various musical styles, however, Petrusich's conclusion that American music reflects the landscape from which it springs is disappointing. (Aug.)

Library Journal

Music critic Petrusich (senior contributing editor, Paste magazine) chooses to pursue a fascinating and ongoing story: the development of American music and how it maps to that of America as a country is a quest that has claimed many a musicologist and critic. It is curious, then, that Petrusich's study is so thin. Much of the history she relates, studded though it is with visits to Graceland, Sun Records, and Nashville, will be familiar to those with a passing knowledge of American roots music. Her nostalgic reflections on how many of these places have decayed or changed should have led to a deeper discussion of where American roots music is going, which is ostensibly what Petrusich attempts to tackle. Only in a mid-book digression into alternative country and a final chapter on avant-garde folk does Petrusich really delve into the consequences of phenomena such as the rise of radio and the modern, deliberate mash-up of genres, artists, and instrumentation. Even then, her conclusions seem to be driven more by personal taste than critical appraisal born of deep understanding. The lack of a discography is a serious omission. Recommended only for the largest music collections.
—Genevieve Williams

Kirkus Reviews