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Thomas Goldsmith

Biography

Thomas Goldsmith

Thomas Goldsmith is a journalist and musician. For more than 30 years, he has worked both in daily newspapers in North Carolina and Tennessee and as a freelance writer. He is the editor of The Bluegrass Reader, and winner of the International Bluegrass Music Association's best journalist award.

Thomas Goldsmith

Books by Thomas Goldsmith

Earl Scruggs and Foggy Mountain Breakdown: The Making of an American Classic
by Thomas Goldsmith - Biography, Music, Nonfiction

Recorded in 1949, "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" changed the face of American music. Earl Scruggs' instrumental essentially transformed the folk culture that came before it, while helping to energize bluegrass's entry into the mainstream in the 1960s. The song has become a gateway to bluegrass for musicians and fans alike, as well as a happily inescapable track in film and television. Thomas Goldsmith explores the origins and influence of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" against the backdrop of Scruggs' legendary career. Interviews with Scruggs, his wife Louise, disciple Béla Fleck, and sidemen like Curly Seckler, Mac Wiseman and Jerry Douglas shed light on such topics as Scruggs' musical evolution and his working relationship with Bill Monroe.