Böcker av Tom Maxwell

"North Carolina has always produced extraordinary music. From Charlie Poole standardizing the bluegrass form in the 1920s, to the creation of an entire diaspora of Black musicians which included Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, and Nina Simone, to the gentle early-70s sounds of James Taylor, the state has many distinguished sons and daughters. But it was the indie rock boom of the late 1980s and '90s that brought North Carolina most fully into the public consciousness. In addition to creating legacy label Merge Records and a raft of excellent indie bands like Superchunk and Archers of Loaf, this was the time when North Carolina bands broke Billboard's top 200 and sold millions of records - several million of which were issued by an ambitious indie label based in Carrboro, Chapel Hill's smaller, sleepier, next door neighbor. It's time to take a closer look at exactly what happened. "A Really Strange and Wonderful Time" chronicles the extraordinary decade between 1989 and 1999, letting those who were there - band members, culture mavens, producers, visual artists, DJs, club owners - speak for themselves, while musician and writer Tom Maxwell provides context, color, and his own perspective as a participant. Deftly researched and intimately written, this is a book that takes readers directly into the scenes as Maxwell experienced them: to the sweaty basement gig, the sold-out Cradle show, the makeshift recording studio, the 15-passenger van. Through interviews and insightful commentary, Maxwell convey the wondrous flowering of activity, followed by its inevitable decay, proving that success is not necessarily defined by fame-and that genius is communal"--

The Swing Movement -- all jazz hands and high-waisted pants -- advanced and receded in good order. I wrote this book to tell the other side of the story. I want you to know about the oddball collection of iconoclasts who got together and made the Squirrel Nut Zippers what they were: a combustible, improbable gumbo of joy and menace. Along the way, I write about our many influences: jazz and blues and hot music and calypso and, yes, swing. Come run these fields, like rabbits, while the harvest moon hangs caught in the branches. Come linger over this snapshot. "e;[An] utterly engaging memoir.... A must-read for anyone with even the remotest interest in how the music biz works.... A short, sharp, sweet shock of a read.... Both Maxwell's pinch-me moments and his creeping sense of dread are visceral and believable enough to land the reader right there in the middle bunk of the Zippers' tour bus. And if that reader also happens to be an aspiring musician, the message here couldn't be clearer: enjoy the ride, but be careful what you wish for."e; -BLURT Magazine "e;Impressive.... [The] book digs into the band's early years in the Chapel Hill, North Carolina, music scene, via intimate stories, and the band discovering and incorporating sounds and influences that may have seemed unusual to mainstream audiences, but were simply the result of young, adventurous musicians getting turned on to great music."e; - Esquire"e;Tom Maxwell & The Minor Drag are planning a fall tour in support of both the album and book.... Plan to listen and read."e; -Artist Direct

In The Lone Rangers, journalist and lifelong Berwick fan Tom Maxwell explores the confused national identity of Berwick-upon-Tweed and its unique football team - a side for whom every fixture is an international.