Chapter 16 - Part 2

You Get What You Need

Mary Gauthier delves into her life and art in Saved by a Song

By Jacqueline Zeisloft | June 30, 2021

In Saved by a Song: The Art and Healing Power of Songwriting, Grammy-nominated folk musician Mary Gauthier unpacks her ideas around “what makes a song matter.” This investigation takes us through Gauthier’s personal narrative as a queer woman, a survivor of addiction, and an artist who reaches deep into the wounds of her childhood to reckon with her past traumas through song. Gauthier will discuss the book at a ticketed virtual event hosted by Parnassus Books in Nashville on July 6.

The Full Story

Brandi Carlile pens a frank, vulnerable memoir

By Jacqueline Zeisloft | April 16, 2021

Americana artist Brandi Carlile disarms us with her earnestness in Broken Horses, a candid rendering of her personal story and her ascent to Grammy-winning fame.

Positively Dolly

Dolly Parton, Songteller places the country icon’s songwriting at the center of her story

By Jacqueline Zeisloft | December 1, 2020

Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics follows the country legend’s life and career from her earliest days growing up in Appalachia to her most recent creative ventures. Co-written by Parton and Nashville-based music journalist Robert K. Oermann, Songteller includes full lyrics to 175 of Parton’s songs, as well as unabashed anecdotes from the remarkable woman with the “Smoky Mountain DNA” who penned them.

Queen’s Rules

Late R&B legend Denise LaSalle always called her own shots

By Jacqueline Zeisloft | August 20, 2020

Always the Queen: The Denise LaSalle Story offers a candid account of the life of the late R&B icon. This posthumous memoir, written with blues historian David Whiteis, also serves as an entertaining and boldly rendered look into the history of the musical genre LaSalle loved.

Tias and Primas: On Knowing and Loving the Women Who Raise Us

By Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez, illustrated by Josie Del Castillo
Seal Press
304 pages
$30

“Within these pages, I found my abuela, my tías and my primas — laughing, crying, and nodding alongside me. This book is a gift of understanding, and loving one’s family, even when our families are complicated and painful. It’s a beautiful reminder of the power of storytelling and the profound connection of kinship.”

~ Paola Mendoza, author, organizer and filmmaker