I have to plug Steven Brust here. He's one of my favorite sf writers, and also a folk and rock musician in Minneapolis. His novel Broke Down Palace (which is okay) is set in the kingdom of Fennario (and all the place names are Hungarian translations of Grateful Dead titles), and the hero of his most successful series, Vlad Taltos, is a Fennarian living elsewhere. (The Vlad Taltos books start off fun and get excellent.)

Of most interest to readers of this file might be Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grill, the main characters of which are folk musicians. The plot may have a hole or two, but I really liked the characters and what they did. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll fall down, it'll change your life.