Homeplace
A Southern Town, a Country Legend, and the Last Days of a Mountaintop Honky-Tonk

The last honky tonk in the Shenedoah proves the entry point into a collection of essays about the rapid change of rural America, family, authenticity, a lot of other things. Fair warning, I would pay even less attention to my opinion on this one then you are used to normally, since John is a very, v......more

Personal evidence as to the mystical forces of serendipity seem at play here. I knew neither that this book existed nor was being written while I lived near the Virginia mountain town this book describes. Beyond anecdotal historical stories and geographical references, I knew little of these people......more

I began reading this book after a brief skimming of the book’s description. I expected a lot of country and roots music history, with some small town-loving prose. I got a lot less of the music I was expecting. I got a lot more of the small town story, but it was a story of change, not all reminisci......more

I blew through John Lingan's "Homeplace" in two days. But, this isn't to say that the book is shallow or light. This is a book that you float through: its lyrical beauty carries you from chapter to chapter and character to character, back and forth through the history of the town of Winchester, VA,......more

I picked this up for a look at music I haven't enjoyed very much over the years and I got a history lesson about America's unspoken caste system and how it continues to inform modern cultures — along with more insight into the origins of country music and how the modern crap is light years away from......more