Our April 5th Books and Brews featured Music journalist Preston Lauterbach, author of Beale Street Dynasty and The Chitlin' Circuit. About 75 people came out to hear Preston speak at Pale Fire Brewing Company in Harrisonburg. Many also stayed to hear blues musician Austin Shifflett.
The discussion was hosted by WMRA's Martha Woodroof.
PrestonLauterbach's first book, The Chitlin' Circuit was a Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and NPR book of the year. His second book Beale Street Dynasty takes us to what Hampton Sides refers to as, "the Main Street of black America."
Excerpt from NYT Sunday Book Review: 'Beale Street Dynasty' and 'Dreams to Remember'
"...not even a bullet in the head could stop [Bob] Church, who became the star mega-mogul of Beale Street. Like many of the district's czars, he was both valiant and corrupt, a charmer and a thug. In a startlingly rebellious move, he opened what Lauterbach - the author of 'The Chitlin' Circuit' - calls 'sex slavery plantations,' brothels stocked with white women.... 'Beale Street Dynasty' adds a fascinating chapter to civil rights history. But for all the hatred it depicts, this gracefully written book never loses sight of the fun that made [W.C.] Handy exalt that stretch of dirt road." New York Times
