Country and Midwestern: Chicago in the History of Country Music and the Folk Revival

by Mark Guarino, Robbie Fulks (Foreword)

The untold story of Chicago’s pivotal role as a country and folk music capital.
 
Chicago is revered as a musical breeding ground, having launched major figures like blues legend Muddy Waters, gospel soul icon Mavis Staples, hip-hop firebrand Kanye West, and the jazz-rock band that shares its name with the city. Far less known, however, is the vital role Chicago played in the rise of prewar country music, the folk revival of the 1950s and 1960s, and the contemporary offspring of those scenes.
 
In Country and Midwestern , veteran journalist Mark Guarino tells the epic century-long story of Chicago’s influence on sounds typically associated with regions further south. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and deep archival research, Guarino tells a forgotten story of music, migration, and the ways that rural culture infiltrated urban communities through the radio, the automobile, and the railroad. The Midwest’s biggest city was the place where rural transplants could reinvent themselves and shape their music for the new commercial possibilities the city offered. Years before Nashville emerged as the commercial and spiritual center of country music, major record labels made Chicago their home and recorded legendary figures like Bill Monroe, The Carter Family, and Gene Autry. The National Barn Dance —broadcast from the city’s South Loop starting in 1924—flourished for two decades as the premier country radio show before the Grand Ole Opry . Guarino chronicles the makeshift niche scenes like “Hillbilly Heaven” in Uptown, where thousands of relocated Southerners created their own hardscrabble honky-tonk subculture, as well as the 1960s rise of the Old Town School of Folk Music, which eventually brought national attention to local luminaries like John Prine and Steve Goodman. The story continues through the end of the twentieth century and into the present day, where artists like Jon Langford, The Handsome Family, and Wilco meld contemporary experimentation with country traditions.
 
 Featuring a foreword from Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Robbie Fulks and casting a cross-genre net that stretches from Bob Dylan to punk rock, Country and Midwestern rediscovers a history as sprawling as the Windy City—celebrating the creative spirit that modernized American folk idioms, the colorful characters who took them into new terrain, and the music itself, which is still kicking down doors even today.

Genres: Music, History, Nonfiction

524 pages, Hardcover

First published April 24, 2023

Reviews

[Tyler McGaughey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Without reading this book, I would never have known that Neko Case used to tend bar at the Hideout, that John Prine once served 200 White Castle hamburgers to his audience at a 1970s Chicago folk club, and that Bill Monroe - who labored in the steel mills of Gary, Indiana! - recorded the ne plus ultra of Kentucky bluegrass music in that quintessentially Chicago structure, the Wrigley Building. My 5 star rating is fully unbiased despite the fact that I briefly handled the marketing for this book and actually came up with the title 💅.

[Kaarin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lively read and, as with the best history, the reader winds up learning about issues other than the topic at hand - in this case, aspects of Chicago history I hadn't been too familiar with, the nature of early radio broadcasting, etc. The list of essential albums at the back of the book is great for explorations.

[Jim Cheng · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this exhaustively researched, imminently readable history, Mark Guarino uncovers a lesser known part of Chicago music history, its rich legacy in country and folk. Beyond its key role in the development of blues and jazz, Chicago also was a landing spot and incubator for a wide-ranging genre that came to be called Americana.
Guarino proves to be as engaging a storyteller as the singer/songwriters he profiles. Though "Country & Midwestern" is packed with information, Guarino doesn't let his research overwhelm his focus on a city, the artists it nurtured and the music they made, from traditional country to punk, folk or alt-country.
Throughout, his love for Chicago is evident.

His descriptions of various and distinct neighborhoods and suburbs over time add richness for Chicagoans (native or adopted) and out-of-towners alike.
Familiar names and their Chicago connections come alive while obscure ones become clear.
My only regret is that I didn't tap into the scene when I lived in Chicago in the 1990s.
Whether read as a history of a city and its culture or a guide to broaden your music collection (check out the appendicies!), "Country & Midwestern" belongs on your bookcase.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book on the history of country and folk in Chicago. 5 stars. Worth the effort it took to get through this very detailed and extensive history.

Also a lot of music mentioned in this that is worth exploring, including two lengthy appendices in the back. Some of it is not available on Spotify, so you'll have to find it the old fashioned way.

I wanted to add, after I finished reading this, I can't stop thinking about certain parts of it. I added it to my favorites list. If you are into old country and/or folk music and/or old music in general, I highly recommend this book. I had no idea Chicago had such a rich history relative to this.

[Laura Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well researched, well written, a subject matter I love.

[Brady McLaughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yeah this book fucking rocked. Super thoroughly researched, great sense of history, fascinating subject matter.
Will be purchasing several copies to give as gifts

[Dan Downing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Generally, for me, a book needs to stand on its own legs. No deconstruction needed. No PMLA dissertations needed. But those are so-called literary works. Sometimes real-life material needs help. Or...not help, actually, but support. Such as a history of the world war benefitting from maps and pictures of the planes used in the Pacific. In this case, YouTube and Spotify supported me along with my own library of music.

Until I read this book I thought I was well versed in Country-Western music and maybe even more steeped in 'folk music'. Now I once again realize that I know nothing. Fortunately, Mark Guiarino knows a lot and what he doesn't know he researches. Deeply. Widely. 63 pages of informative notes bring up the rear of the book, along with a list of Chicago songs and another list of albums by Chicago artists. In between these sections and the main body of text is an interesting Acknowledgements.

Most of the 420 pages in the main body are like a living room, populated with old friends and a dose of new ones. Stories abound. Toward the end of the book, things do get a little out of hand for me, as I have not kept up with the music. But Mr. Guarino writes clearly and interestingly and there is the internet lying around for edification even as one travels through foreign lands on a Coach cruise. Hotels these days: forget the color TV, they have free wifi.

Altogether this is a terrific story about beautiful music and the beautiful people who make it.
Recommended.

[Rob Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoroughly researched, deep exploration of country music and Chicago's essential role in this history of country music. This tome starts with the WLS Barn Dance and continues through the rise (and ultimately, the demise or, at a minimum, decline) or Insurgent Country and Bloodshot Records.

There are so many amazing stories chronicled in this work, and it makes a convincing case that Chicago is as important as Nashville to the history and development ir country music. My primary criticism of this work is that it seems to spend an inordinate amount of time telling stories from the Barn Dance era, and the more recent times felt like the chapters were barely scratching the surface.

Overall, though, I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone who loves Chicago and it's role in popular music.

[Rick Jackofsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d like to give this book more stars, but some glaring content editorial errors made me take a couple stars off.

1. The author says Sara Carter was Maybelle’s sister, in reality, she was her cousin.

2. At one point the author refers to Bill Monroe as “the fiddler-bandleader who headlined the Chicago festival in 1963 . . “ even though earlier in the book he did note the role Monroe played in developing the modern bluegrass mandolin style.

3. Toward the end of the book, the author confuses Alice Wheeler with Alice Gerrard; Gerrard was the “Alice” of the Hazel & Alice duet.

Overall I truly enjoyed reading this book, but I have to wonder how many other errors there might be outside my own learning and experience.

[Joanna Hazelden · Rating 5 out of 5]

The group thoroughly enjoyed this little known history of Country music in Chicago. In addition to the background on the National Barndance on WLS, the founding of the Old Town School of Music and the folk music scene in the city was fascinating. The book is dense with stories of musicians and dips into the Appalachian migration that had social impacts on Chicago. We agreed that most of this history is not well known in the city and outside of it-it's a shame that the city's overbearing desire to create law & order in Uptown (and be seen as a "modern" staging ground for business) included smothering and ignoring the country music history.

[Aaron Cohen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An essential presentation of a key chapter in Chicago musical history. Lively and informative, this book illuminates the contributions of John Prine, Steve Goodman, Jethro Burns and so many others but also includes deep reporting on the communities and institutions that shaped them and their audiences.

[Raymonds009 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent filled-out time line of what has gone on here in Chicago on the folk scene and more. It really t6ook me back to my boyhood and the many people I met and rubbed shoulders with and the places where it all happened. I was especially gratified to see the index of recordings and books--this will keep me busy for years. I hope that it does the same for you.

[Chip Rickard · Rating 5 out of 5]

The capital of Country Music may be Nashville but Chicago was an important player in the history of the genre. Starting with the National Barn Dance on WLS to all the local clubs in the area that hosted great artists to the Old Town School of Folk Musuc to the Alternative Country artists that fueled that sub-genre in the 90s Chicago was and is an important place for Country.

[Ed Manning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, this is the first review I’ve ever provided here so I’ll keep it short. This is an outstanding book! Whether you grew up in Chicago (I did), love classic country (I do!), or just want a historical overview of the Chicago country and folk scene since the dawn of radio (why not!?!), then you need to read this book. Once I started it I could not put this down. Get it! Read it! Love it!

[Tim Lacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent history of a long and continuous folk and country scene in my adopted hometown. I learned a lot about some familiar, and a great many unfamiliar, artists and behind-the-scenes figures. Guarino's book has inspired 2-3 new music lists. It has also instigated a desire to re-explore neglected music in my collection. The book is valuable.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book chronicling Chicago's part in the rise of Country, Folk and all sorts of adjacent music starting with radio and up through the 2000s. Worth the money just for the song and albums lists at the end of the book.

[Joel Kligerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The past 100 years of music in Chicago are very thoroughly researched.
Fun to read about the early years of country music in Chicago through the folk scene in the 50's through the 70's and to today.

[StephenPaul ChaseJr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still love from then and now, music!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bradley Morgan]

Check out my interview with the author for the New Books Network: https://newbooksnetwork.com/country-a...

[Harry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly researched book about a history that I was almost completely unaware of. Wonderful book, with high reference value after reading.

[James Clinton Slusher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a few hundred books on music and musicians. This is among the best, most interesting and most enlightening I have ever come across. The research and depth of detail are themselves remarkable, but more important is the picture the book gives of a musical form's evolution. That it happens to occur in Chicago is interesting, and somewhat unexpected, since Chicago is generally associated more with the blues than country music. But Guarino's description shows the growth of a musical form that I doubt has ever been observed before. Chicago plays an important role in the story Guarino tells, but this is not the story of a city but of a culture. Country and Midwestern helped me understand the entire musical landscape in a way I had not previously considered. if you really want to understand the place of music in the culture of America, you must read this book. it is of course not the sole definitive account, but it is an account without which any other picture is incomplete.

[CJM · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comprehensive history of Chicago’s seminal role in the development of Country and Folk music in the 20th and 21st centuries. Mr. Guerino identifies and traces several through lines and cross currents that connect past and present authoritatively. The reader is left with a powerful sense of the Windy City as an independent music center largely unaffected by commercial concerns over a near-century of activity. There’s plenty of room for music discovery here.