Betty Smith's study of one of Cecil Sharp's primary informants, Jane Hicks Gentry is a fine one. Also Herschel Gower and James Porter did a wonderful study of the great Jeannie Robertson, ballad singer from Aberdeen, Scotland. Cecelia Conway's African Banjo Echoes in Appalachia explores the lives of several of the artists whose music she investigates. These can get you started, at least.

Sandy