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John Milward

Biography

John Milward

John Milward has written about popular music for more than 40 years; he was the chief pop music critic for the Chicago Daily News and USA Today and has written for Rolling Stone, the New York Times and No Depression. He is the author of CROSSROADS: How the Blues Shaped Rock ’n’ Roll (and Rock Saved the Blues).

John Milward

Books by John Milward

Americanaland: Where Country & Western Met Rock 'n' Roll
written by John Milward, portraits by Margie Greve - Music, Nonfiction

With a claim on artists from Jimmie Rodgers to Jason Isbell, Americana can be hard to define, but you know it when you hear it. John Milward’s AMERICANALAND is filled with the enduring performers and vivid stories that are at the heart of Americana. At base a hybrid of rock and country, Americana is also infused with folk, blues, R&B, bluegrass and other types of roots music. Performers like Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles and Gram Parsons used these ingredients to create influential music that took well-established genres down exciting new roads. The name Americana was coined in the 1990s to describe similarly inclined artists like Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle and Wilco. Today, Brandi Carlile and I’m With Her are among the musicians carrying the genre into the 21st century.