The Oxford American Thirteenth Annual Southern Music Issue

This is by far my favorite issue of any magazine for the year.  I may not care for every issue of The Oxford American, but when this issue comes out it is always my favorite single issue of any magazine for the year. A magazine filled with great writing and a cd of brilliant music that you probably have never heard.   Marc Smirnoff, the editor, manages to collect some of the most amazing music from the south this one time each year and get some of the most talented wordsmiths to write about said music in the magazine.  This issue features music from the state of Mississippi and cover features Howling Wolf.  What more do you need to go out and buy this issue right now?

The article about Howling Wolf is written by Peter Guralnick, who has written the best biography of Elvis out there and his most recent book was about Sam Cooke.  The rest of the issue is filled with talented writers who bring to life the people that make the music that appears on the cd that accompanies the magazine.  And what music it is.

Harold Dorman, Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, Ernie Chaffin, Bo Diddley, Mattie Delaney....whose song "Tallahatchie River Blues" appears on the cd.  This is one of only two known songs recorded by Ms. Delaney.  The song was recorded in 1930 and the article talks about who Mattie Delaney might have been and how hard it is to know the history of some of these older singers.

The list goes on with more great singers that you may never have heard of, but once you hear them you'll be glad you did.  And the articles in the magazine gives you a look into the history of this music and these musicians that may not be remembered by many today, but as you read they'll at least be remembered by one more person.  

My hope next year is that they feature Louisiana music.

The Oxford American is (from their site):

Billed as "The Southern Magazine of Good Writing," it has won three National Magazine Awards and other high honors since it began publication in 1992. The magazine has featured the original work of such literary powerhouses as Charles Portis, Roy Blount, Jr., ZZ Packer, Donald Harington, Donna Tartt, Ernest J. Gaines, and many other distinguished authors, while also discovering and launching the most promising writers in the region. The magazine has also published previously unseen work by such Southern masters as William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Walker Percy, James Agee, Zora Neale Hurston, James Dickey, Carson McCullers, to name just a handful. The New York Times recently stated that The Oxford American "may be the liveliest literary magazine in America."

For more information or to subscribe check out their site here.