ABOUT

For a small state, Arkansas has played an outsized role in American culture, especially its music. From Almeda To Zilphia: Arkansas Women Who Transformed American Popular Song profiles 30 artists who impacted music across the genres and influenced American culture in ways we're still discovering. From A to Z across the decades, readers will encounter a wide variety of women and musical styles, including gospel (Rosetta Tharpe), opera (Marjorie Lawrence), blues (Sippie Wallace), folk ballads (Almeda Riddle), dance pop (Beth Ditto), classical (Florence Price), and country (K.T. Oslin). There are surprises too, like Maya Angelou's side career as a Calypso singer; Eva Ware Barnett, who wrote the official state song in 1917; and Carrie Rivers Cash, who fueled  the musical career of her son, Johnny.

Stephen Koch is a musician, journalist, and author of the biography Louis Jordan: Son of Arkansas, Father of R&B (The History Press, 2014). Koch is the writer-host of Arkansongs, an award-winning syndicated radio program that for 25 years has examined Arkansas people, places, and especially its music.

From Almeda To Zilphia will feature illustrations by artist Katherine Strause, an introduction by historian and author Dr. Cherisse Jones-Branch, and an afterword by acclaimed country music songwriter Erin Enderlin.