Music from the True Vine

“Resistant to making his own life a central part of his legacy, [Mike Seeger] remained an enigma to many who’d long relished and built on his music. . . . The more obscure parts of the story are clarified in Bill C. Malone’s biography.” — Wall Street Journal

“An illuminating biography. . . . Paints Seeger’s contribution to the folk music revival as one of genuine respect for and commemoration of the music he was preserving and lets the importance of Seeger’s work speak for itself.” — Library Journal

“In Bill C. Malone, Seeger has a biographer worthy of his importance.” — Foreword Reviews

“An excellent and affectionate biography.” — Times Literary Supplement

“Malone, long the nation’s most authoritative historian of country music, has written an impressively researched, psychologically insightful, and eminently readable biography of an individual whose lifework changed our understanding both of folk music and the southern region that spawned it.” — Journal of Southern History

“An important contribution to folklore scholarship. . . . Rich in detail and could be a blueprint for telling the story of an individual’s entrance into a musical career.” — Journal of American Folklore

“Malone traces Seeger’s life and achievements with affection and in remarkable detail.” — Booklist

“This is a delightful biography of Mike Seeger . . . . A must read for anyone interested in folk music. Essential. All readers.” — CHOICE

“An excellent book for the general reader of traditional music history and even for those who knew Seeger. . . . Malone’s biography, with its detailed references, will be an important resource for further scholarly research on the history of traditional American music.” — Studies in American Culture

“What renders the book relevant to a wide range of readers — whether or not they have ever heard of Mike Seeger — is its emphasis on placing the musician’s life into broader contexts.” — West Virginia History