Welcome to the first volume in an exciting new annual series that celebrates the year's best American writing about music and its culture, as selected by one of the genre's preeminent practitioners. Covering the gamut of contemporary styles,rock, pop, rap, jazz, blues, country,Guralnick has chosen the kind of pieces that send you right to the record store, by both established writers and bright new talents. With thirty selections drawn from more than a hundred sources, including mainstream magazines like the New Yorker , music journals like Spin , and tiny'zines and websites where the scribes of the new century are found, this collection will be indispensable for music lovers and lovers of wonderful writing alike.

Douglas Wolk writes about comics and music for publications including the New York Times, Rolling Stone, the Washington Post, Salon, and The Believer. He lives in Portland, Oregon. Peter Guralnick has written extensively about American music and musicians. His books include the Prize-winning, two-volume Elvis Presley biography Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love, and the acclaimed Sweet Soul Music, Lost Highway, and Feel Like Going Home.