Anderson-Green (English, Kennesaw State U.) tells the stories of several legendary performers and instrument makers from the Upper New River Valley-Whitetop Mountain region. With a focus on performers from Alleghany and Ashe Counties in North Carolina and Carroll and Grayson Counties in Virginia, she reveals how they started to bring the music of Appalachia to a wider audience well before the emergence of Nashville as a country music center, and she relates the experiences and values behind the practice of this musical heritage. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This directory of family associations, based largely on data received in response to questionnaires sent to family associations, reunion committees, and one-name societies, offers contact information on some 6,000 family associations in the US. The directory is useful for those engaging in genealogical research or planning family reunions. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR

Folks gave this small town its peculiar moniker as early as 1847, and they've been doing things their own way ever since. Beginning as an important stop for commerce along the Ohio River, the tiny town has endured floods, ice, economic upheaval and all manner of modernization, remaining a beacon of bygone ways in the present day. Always bucking trends, people here elected their first dog for mayor in 1998, sparking a tradition that led to three more successful canine campaigns. So pull up a chair at the general store and join local historian Donald Clare as he presents the first book-length history of Boone County's most celebrated river town.