At a time when Acid Rock and Heavy Metal dominated popular music, The Band rebelled against the rebellion with a masterful mix of tight ensemble arrangements, great vocals, highly literate lyricism, and a respect for the musical traditions of the American South. Comprising Canadians Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, and Garth Hudson, and Arkansas-born Levon Helm, The Band sparked a new appreciation for America's musical roots, fusing R&B, jump blues, country, folk, boogie-woogie, swing, Cajun, New Orleans-style jazz, and rock, and setting the foundations for the Americana craze that would take hold 30 years later. The Band: Pioneers of Americana Music explores the diverse influences on the quintet's music, and the impact that their music had in turn on contemporary music and American society. Through previously unpublished interviews with Robbie Robertson, Eric Andersen, Pete Seeger, and the late Rick Danko, as well as numerous other sources, Craig Harris surveys The Band's musical journey fro Music provides a thread for author, educator, percussionist, and photographer Craig Harris. His work has appeared in the Boston Globe, Sing Out, Dirty Linen, Global Rhythm, All Music Guide, and he is the author of The New Folk Music (1991) and The Heartbeat, Warble and The Electric Powwow: Native America's Musical Tapestry (forthcoming). In addition to performing in concert and/or recording with Rod MacDonald, C. J. Chenier, Jonathan Edwards, Greg Brown, and the late Rick Danko, among others, he has presented his Drum Away the Blues program throughout New England.
