Jim is an attorney and an author and lives in Philadelphia. Jim's first book, DEVIL'S MUSIC, HOLY ROLLERS, AND HILLBILLIES: HOW AMERICA GAVE BIRTH TO ROCK AND ROLL (McFarland, 2016) (Kirkus: "illuminating and intriguing"; Minnesota Public Radio Rock Book Club Selection), is on sale everywhere, as well as featured at legendary Sun Studio (one of five such books), The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Delta Blues Museum.
Jim has also published legal scholarship on children's rights and the Constitution, as well as writing on music-related topics as a regular contributor to PopMatters since 2013, and elsewhere.
Jim's follow-up book (working title): A New History: Rock Music, Authority, and Western Culture, 1964-1980, will be published sometime around the end of the year with McFarland Books.
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and rock pioneer Lloyd Price’s life has been much more interesting than yours or mine, from writing hits with Fats Domino to playing an influential role in the Rumble in the Jungle. Yet Price still has many more yarns to spin even now.
Even though it is on Labor Day and it is called “Made in America", this fest has nothing to do with manufacturing jobs. Instead, this is Jay Z’s vision of a new – or renewed – sense of patriotism.
12 Years a Slave is every bit as intense as one might imagine, though not completely depressing, whereas Django Unchained aestheticizes its extreme violence.