American Epic would not have been possible without the generous help and contributions of hundreds of people met along an epic journey spanning almost a decade and hundreds of thousands of miles ranging far and wide across the USA: musicians, librarians, preachers, teachers, audiophiles, engineers, record collectors, researchers, photographers, funeral directors, filmmakers, music managers, artists, judges, historians, and helpful folk of all sorts.
We would like to thank:
The American Epic team
Nicholas Bergh, Adam Block, Sherwin Dunner, Patrick Ferris, Dan Gitlin, Peter Henderson, Bill Holderman, Larry Jenkins, Michael Kieffer, Jack McLean, Jeff Rosen, John Tefteller, Elijah Wald and Anthony Wall
The executive producers
T Bone Burnett, Robert Redford and Jack White
Our consultants and archivists
Paul Alexander, Dave Anderson, Gary Atkinson, Scott Barretta, Bruce Bastin, Pete Bergeron, Bill Brewington, Michael Brooks, Sheila Bumgarner, Joe Bussard, Garth Cartwright, John Cohen, Larry Cohn, Kathy Conkwright, Joy Conley, Les Cook, Harry Coster, John Eck, Lars Edegran, Kevin S. Fontenot, Cary Ginell, Mia Greendove, Todd Harvey, Len Horowitz, Jaime Jaramillo, David Karmelli, Brad Kay, Don Kent, Miles Krueger, Steve Lasker, Joe Lauro, Rick Lepore, Mary Makley, Murray Lerner, Frank Mare, Barry Mazor, Robert “Mack” McCormick, Gilda Miros, Roger Misiewicz, Richard Nevins, Paul Oliver, Bengt Olsson, Clive Osborn, Frances Robb, Kinney Rorrer, Tony Russell, Ann Savoy, Stewart Schlosberg, Mike Seeger, Charles Shaar Murray, Steve Sheldon, Russel Shor, Dick Spottswood, Karl Steig, Chris Strachwitz, Phyllis and Ken Swerilas, Paul Swinton, Tom Tierney, Professor Steve Tracy, John Troutman, Paul Vernon, Gayle Dean Wardlow, John R. Wheat, Daniel Wheeler, Pete Whelan, Charles K. Wolfe, Marshall Wyatt and Kenneth Zoll
Our friends and supporters
Diane Aldred, Gavin Aldred, Erika Alfredson, Doug Allsopp, Chris Ancliff, Jason Anderson, Shari Annes, Martha Arenas, Gil Aronow, Siward Atkins, Jeff Bakken, Dave Ball, Tony Barrell, Mark Bashore, Richard Becker, John and Serena Benedict, Steve Berkowitz, Joe Berlinger, Mark and Carolyn Blackburn, Ben Blackwell, Anne and Jerome Boisard, Joe Boyd, John Boyd, Marea Boylan, Beth Brann, Gretchen Brennison, Paul Brown, Stuart Brown, Maik Brüggemeyer, Lt. Col. Gloria Bullock, Ellis Burman, Susan Buser, Mike Carey, Terry Carlson, Maggi Caridi, Paul Charles, Robert Christgau, E.J. Cody, Chip Comins, Adrienne Connors, Tom Cording, William D. Coughlin, Vicki Cruz, Jean Cummins, Seth Daggett, Ben Dalby, Tom Davy, Loraine Despres, Carleton Eastlake, Roxy Erickson, Mark Ettinger, Ronald and Vera Farrants, Gary Ferris, Alessandra Fremura, David Gahr, Garbage, Camilla Gibbs, Fabrice Gieryga, Elizabeth Giles, Jenn Asher and Aleister Gitlin, Roger Glenn, Peter Golub, Gary Gonzales, Lonnie Goodwin, Ray Goto, Davis Guggenheim, Rachel Gutek, Gordon and Kathy Hamilton, John Harrington, Daniel Harris, Boyd Harvey, Alex and Lesley Hill, Cheryl Hirasa, Gil Hopkins, Joanna Hughes, Prince Albert Hunt, Jim Hunt, Gail and Miller Ingram, David Jaymes, Marissa Jefferies, Jennifer and Peter Jesperson, Bob Johnson, Matthew Kelly, Heather Kenmure, Paris Keswani, Callie Khouri, Lyn Koppe, Gayle and Scott Lane, Marion Koltai-Levine, George Kupczak, Taylor Lang, Nisha Lalwani, Guy Lavallée, Ken Levine, Richard Liebowitz, Crystal Longdon, Pat MacMahon, Taj Mahal, Lana Mann, Carol Lusk, The Maestro and the Mermaid, Frances McCain, Adrian McCusker, Gordon McGourty, Austin McLean, Lisa Zion McNiff, Michelle Morales, Tom Mullen, Roger Naber, Nicholas Naro, Neil O’Brien, Alex Ogilvie, Dan Owen, Elizabeth and Ralph Peer II, Paul Pieper, Rita Pierce, John Polito, Verna Polutan, Lisa Remington, David Rezak, Rod Randolph Richardson, Jarom Rowland, Andrew Ross, Melissa Ruella, Dr. John W. Rumble, Julie Santos, Rob Santos, Jeffrey Schulberg, Jerry, Helen, Chris and Aileen Scully, Gudrun Shea, Timothy Shepard, Erin Simms, Benjamin Singleton, Eli Smith, Sarah Spruill, Bill and Jane Stetson, Richard Story, Nina Streich, Ben Swank, Bill Tapia, Joel Tefteller, Susie Tefteller, Joel Tepp, Rozalyn Torto, Kate Truscello, Tim Ufkes, Lisa Verrico, Linh Vuong, Andrew Walker, Chris Walter, David Weiswasser, Mark Williams, Linda Wolf, Chris Wolford, Geoff Wonfor, Doug Wong, Jennifer and Tracey Wong, Arash Zandi, Nancy Zoll
The organizations that have helped us
Apollo Masters, Association for Recorded Sound Collections, AT&T, Audio Mechanics, BBC Arena, Cami Music, CEDAR Audio Ltd., Colorlab, City National Bank, Columbia Records, Cross Cultural Journeys, Directors Guild of America, Edit Source, the EMI Archive Trust, The George H. Buck Foundation, Grammy Museum, Historic Films, Hopi Cultural Preservation Office, The Hopi Tribe, iZotope, Lamm Industries, LD Communications, Legacy Recordings, Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise, Library of Congress, Mac Make-Up, MacPresents, The Maritime Hotel, Media Insurance Brokers Ltd., Memphis Police Department, Mercedes-Benz, Metropolis, Mississippi John Hurt Foundation, Moving Image Research Collections at the University of South Carolina, Network Typing, New York Public Library, OCL Studios, Park City Live, Pavek Museum of Broadcasting, Peermusic, [PIAS], Platinum Rye, Preferred Travel, PROQUEST, Rainbo Records, the Recording Academy, Red Light Management, Sonic Studio, Sony Music, Squarespace, Sundance Institute, Sundance Film Festival, Syracuse University Bandier Program, the Television Academy, 2 Brydges Place, University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, Verde Valley Archaeology Center, Wildwood Enterprises, Writers Guild of America East, Writers Guild of America West
The managers and executives
Johnny Barbis, Colin Campbell, Allison, Elble, Stacey Fass, Gerry A. Fojo, Michael Franks, Andrew Friedman, Steve Fuggett, John Grady, Rayburn W. Green, Wendy Hopkins, Marc Joaquin, George Khangis, Kevin Kiley, Ken Levitan, Bonnie Levetin, Emily Lichter, Jackie Lopez, Michael Meisel, Kevin Morris, Henri Musselwhite, Dolphus Ramseur, Elliot Roberts, Mark Rothbaum, Anthony Saleh, Colin Smith, Damien Smith, John Smith, Christine Stauder, Randi Tolbert, Barry Tyerman, Julian Wright
The contributors
Alyssabeth Archambault, John Ballard, Ted Bradley, Gary Breaux, Della Breaux Hook, Jeanie Broussard Breaux, Jimmy Breaux, Pat Breaux, Michael Brooks, Bob Burch, Kenny and Tracy Cannon, Larry Carver, John Carter Cash, Pastor Donnie Chapman, Hershel and Irene Chipman, H.B. Chipman Jr., Annie Cook, Ryan Croxton, Flora Davis, David Lee Durham, Francis Duke, Honeyboy Edwards, Wade Falcon, Timothy Ferris, Antoine Carroll Fruge, Evans Fuller, Effie Gaspard, Jim George, Ella Gladden, Richard Gladden, Walter Godfrey, Clarence Harris, Ernest Gillespie, Allen Hebert, Gwendolyn Hendon and the Triumph Church Choir, Ann Hernandez-McKinney, Fernando Hernandez, Roger Hernandez, Mary Francis Hurt, Homesick James, Eugene Justice, Dale Jett, Phillip Kazee, Gregg Kimball, Jacqueline Knaff, Leigh Kuwanwisiwma, Bill Lester, Robert Lockwood Jnr., Auntie Ka’iwa Meyer, Flo Millard, Jerry Mouton, Charlie Musselwhite, Hubert Nelson Jnr., Gus Odom, Cyril Pahinui, Craig Raguse, Steve Rice, James Robertson, Fern Salyer, Greg Sardinha, E.J. Satala, Bonnie Shockley-Cox, Ernestine Smith, Ken and Phyllis Swerilas, Alex Thomas, Drake Walsh, Bill Williamson and Family, Ken Zoll
The American Epic Sessions musicians
Alabama Shakes, The Americans, Peter Asher, The Avett Brothers, Carla Azar, Beck, Jay Bellerose, Edie Brickell, Chloe Feoranzo, Dominic Davis, Frank Fairfield, Dean Fertita, Dom Flemons, Ana Gabriel, Rhiannon Giddens, Merle Haggard, Bobby Ingano, Hubby Jenkins, Elton John, Daru Jones, Fats Kaplin, Auntie Geri Kuhia, Pokey Lafarge, Lake Street Dive, Bettye Lavette, Los Lobos, Lost Bayou Ramblers, Taj Mahal, Roger Manning, Steve Martin, Fred Martin and The Levite Camp, Ashley Monroe, Nas, Willie Nelson, J. Micah Nelson, Alfredo Ortiz, Charlie Kaleo Oyama, Van Dyke Parks, Jerron Paxton, Christine Pizzuti, Lillie Mae Rische, Omar Rodriguez, Roberto Roffiel, Raphael Saadiq, Joshua Smith, Fred Sokolow, Stephen Stills, Bernie Taupin, Jack White, Gabe Witcher
Our professional advisors
Ken Kraus and Michael Maizner at Loeb & Loeb LLP, Chris Perez at Donaldson + Callif, Michael Perlstein and Michael Martins at Fischbach, Perlstein, Lieberman & Almond, Alexis Grower at Magrath LLP, LeeAnn Hard and Steve MacNicoll at H2 Management, Andrea Richards at Accounts Navigator, Tim Sharman at MGR and Tad Bieniek
Our publishers, agents and designers
Matthew Benjamin at Simon & Schuster, Thomas Flannery and David Vigliano at AGI-Vigliano Literary LLC, Lorie Pagnozzi, Nat Strimpopulos, Brian Loucks at CAA
