Fiction Books about folk singers

Subject: RE: Fiction Books about folk singers
From: Midchuck
Date: 11 Sep 10 - 06:19 PM

Dies the Fire, by S. M. Stirling, is probably my favorite novel of the third millennium to date.

One of the two protagonists is a lady fiddler and folksinger, modeled closely on the former Heather Alexander - the character's name is Juniper Mackenzie.

More here also.

There are now six sequels, the most recent of which was published this past Tuesday and on which I am sweating out Amazon's slow freight shipping.

Peter

Subject: RE: Fiction Books about folk singers
From: GUEST,oaktree
Date: 11 Sep 10 - 04:35 PM

After some hilarious googling (I had no idea folk singers were such popular heroes and heroines in romance novels) I found a possibility.

The Sea Waif, 1967, by Anne Weale (cover shows heroine with black hair), Harlequin Romance #1123:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/w/anne-weale/sea-waif.htm

"The glamorous, sucessful folk singer Sara Winchester was trying to make a fundamental decision - whether or not to marry a charming, eminently suitable man who loved her deeply. But still she hesitated. Why? It was for a reasonthat took her back six years - to another world, the world in which she had been so happy with her guardian, Jonathan Logan. For whatever might happen in the future, Sara knew that between her and Jonathan had been forged a link that would never be broken..."

Subject: RE: Fiction Books about folk singers
From: katlaughing
Date: 11 Sep 10 - 01:00 PM

Not what you are looking for, but Elizabeth Ann Scarborough's Songkiller Trilogy is excellent. Click and scroll about HALFWAY down the page. Here's what she says about it:

THE SONGKILLER SAGATHE SONGKILLER SAGA BOOK 1 THE PHANTOM BANJO, : BOOK 2 PICKING THE BALLAD'S BONES, BOOK 3: STRUM AGAIN?

THE SONGKILLER SAGA is actually the only trilogy I've done intentionally. After three very serious books, I was ready to laugh again and go back to the things I love, like folk music and ballads. Folk songs and music in general are actually more important in many peoples' lives than they realize. Throughout history, music has been what gets people through tough times, bad deals, and sometimes danger. It punctuates life events and occasionally carries the news. It has been known to bring rulers to their knees and governments to their senses.

An international consortium of devils have decided that it has to go. Folk music is just too potent to be allowed to continue. They start by wiping most songs from peoples' memories and also by killing off some of the more prominent culture-bearers among musicians. My little band of musicians wants their toons back and travel the country and the world to accomplish their mission.

The tone is sort of Southern Gothic from the viewpoint of a lady named Gussy who is in on all the proceedings, including the mechanations of a debauchery devil named Torchy who ends up siding with the musicians against her fellow devils because, as she says, "musicians have always been among my best people."

Unlike my book, it seems right now like the devils won the day. You don't hear a lot of folk music anymore, do you? It seems to have fallen out of fashion. Maybe we should be asking why.

Subject: RE: Fiction Books about folk singers
From: Phil Cooper
Date: 11 Sep 10 - 12:17 PM

The novel Bimbos of the Death Sun has a Scottish folk singer character. Come & Go Molly Snow deals with a bluegrass fiddler/singer coping with making her way in a male dominated bluegrass band and having a personal tragedy. There's also the Phantom Banjo series of books.

Subject: RE: Fiction Books about folk singers
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 11 Sep 10 - 11:32 AM

I know of no such books, but Andrew Vachss (not sure of spelling), in his mystery novels, has the protagonist often listening to tapes of Judy Henske.

Subject: RE: Fiction Books about folk singers
From: GUEST,oaktree
Date: 11 Sep 10 - 05:57 AM

Jack - could you be thinking of Shusha Guppy's second book of memoirs, A Girl in Paris? Because I don't think that was published until 1991.

Subject: RE: Fiction Books about folk singers
From: Jack Campin
Date: 11 Sep 10 - 05:16 AM

I was convinced Shusha Guppy had written a book like that, but I can't find any trace of it in articles about her on the web.

Subject: Fiction Book about folk singers
From: GUEST,Guest - Lin
Date: 11 Sep 10 - 02:40 AM

Many years ago when I was a teenager I was visiting my grandmother in London, England. This was during the early 1970's. There was a small local library not far from where she lived in the Cricklewood area of London. I used to borrow books from this library. One year I found a fiction book and the story was about a girl in her 20's who was or wanted to be a folk singer. I do not remember too much about the book now as this was a LONG TIME AGO! Unfortunately I do not know the title of the book or the author or the publishing company, but I do know it was a fiction book. I do seen to recall that the young female folk singer was of Indian descent (but not 100 % sure of that) and that in the story they mentioned her long black hair.

I do not live in UK but I did manage to find a web site that had the email for this library. I contacted them via email about a year or so ago and mentioned to the librarians about this book but of course I did not know the title or the author. This book would have been published in the 60's or early 70's. I heard back from a librarian but with so little to go on, they could not provide me with a title or author. Of course there were no staff that worked there currently that worked there during the early 1970's. The library may not even have this book anymore. With so little information to go on, (just the decription that I provided) did not ring a bell of a book like that that they had now.

I tried doing an online search for fiction books published in the 1960's or early 70's in the UK about a girl that was a folk singer but no luck. I only found books that were non-fiction or books about Joan Baez and many other non-fiction books about folk music or folk singers but the book I am looking for was definitely fiction and published in UK.

If anyone might have a clue as to what the title of this book is or remember reading a book like this please post information.
Sorry, I don't have much to go on but I just remember that the girl in the book wanted to be a folk singer and her life was based around that story. The book would have been published in the 1960's or early 70's because it was at that time when I read it.

Thank you,
Lin