Oh, Didn't They Ramble

"Rounder Records made me, and vice-y verse-y." —George Thorogood

"Long one of my favorite music writers, David Menconi has blessed us with a wonderful yarn about the most unlikely of success stories imaginable. Rounder Records has long been the tiny label that somehow could and did. They were ahead of their times in almost every imaginable way and succeeded by going against every grain and trend. An excellent book and a blast to read."—Patterson Hood, writer, performer, and cofounder of the Drive-By Truckers

"Rounder Records is arguably the most successful, influential, and adventurous independent record label of the 20th century, and Menconi tells its story vividly and thoughtfully. In addition to tracing its history from "anti-profit collective" to roots music juggernaut, he uses Rounder as a lens through which to view the history of the music business and 50 years of American pop culture. At its heart, though, the book is a love letter to the old-time music scene of the late '60s and early '70s--a countercounterculture full of string bands and fiddlers, weirdos and outcasts, obsessive fans and of course three young radicals who wanted to make sure the music was preserved and enjoyed. Menconi writes with authority and immense enthusiasm for the music, which makes his book a must-read for fans of roots music and anyone who might want to start their own Rounder."—Stephen Deusner, author of Where the Devil Don't Stay: Traveling the South with the Drive-By Truckers

"Menconi's history of the legendary Rounder record label also offers a concise survey of the music industry over the last half-century. Rounder successfully found a way to honor what came before while introducing a new generation to the best roots music has to offer, and along the way, it helped create the genre some now call Americana. Menconi does a masterful job crafting a complex narrative into a thoroughly entertaining, and dare I say, even emotional, read."—Michael Elliott, author of Have a Little Faith: The John Hiatt Story

"Balancing a determination to document the label's history, warts and all, with a loving appreciation of the music and the label's founders who facilitated it, Menconi charts the path Rounder followed from an 'antiprofit collective' into a cultural juggernaut. A masterful depiction of the indie label business and the roots music culture of the last fifty years."—Danny Goldberg, author of Serving the Servant: Remembering Kurt Cobain