“Mark Guarino’s magnificent history, Country & Midwestern, proves that the Second City was first among equals in the development of American roots music. A ruthless researcher and scintillating storyteller, Guarino provides critical context and moving portraits of the pickers, grinners and pioneers who shaped Chicago’s contributions to country and folk.

“A long overdue but welcome volume that will sit alongside other essential works on the subject, from Bill C. Malone’s Country Music USA to David Hadju’s Positively Fourth Street.”

— Bob Mehr, author of the New York Times bestseller Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements

“In this remarkable and thrilling book, Mark Guarino writes that ‘Chicago’s role in country music and the folk revival has never earned a closer look.’ Well, it gets that now in a book exhaustively researched, stylishly written and exciting on every single page. In it I find people I knew well (even my father), many more that I heard play and sing in clubs, and some that are new to me. They are all here, vividly, the rogues, rascals and geniuses who made and keep making our city sing.”

— Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune columnist and 2022 Fuller Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame

“With an epic scope, gorgeous photographs, and useful discographies, this is a vital contribution to the history of American music and required reading for country and folk music fans.”

— Freda Love Smith, Booklist

“Guarino’s richly textured cultural history is informed by his instinctive sense of the sounds and lyrics that originated in Chicago’s small taverns and clubs that were an ‘unusual hothouse for creativity,’ crucial to the reinvention of country and folk music.”

— Elizabeth Taylor, The National Book Review

“Those of us who came of age in the vicinity of Chicago understand its importance to country and folk music. The Windy City is home to some of the most prolific artists in the genre. Now, finally, author Mark Guarino chronicles the history of country and folk music in Chicago in his necessary and irresistible book Country and Midwestern.”

— Tamara Saviano, author of Without Getting Killed or Caught: The Life and Music of Guy Clark

“Monumental … Music writer Mark Guarino tells a riveting story of the central role that Chicago has played in the development of country and folk music. Essential reading for anyone interested in the history of country and folk music.”

— No Depression

“It was not only a page turner, but from my experience, your account was right-on-the-nail accurate … The definitive book on the Chicago music scene. It could be the model for other books in other cities.”

— Frank Hamilton, co-founder of the Old Town School of Folk Music

“Growing up in Oak Park, Mark Guarino was raised in the womb of Chicago’s vibrant and diverse music scene. This history of country, folk and beyond is a living, breathing document that offers the heartbeat that made songwriter John Prine an Americana icon, and an alternative country scene that impacts globally.”

— Holly Gleason, Editor/Contributor WOMAN WALK THE LINE: How the Women of Country Music Changed Our Lives and co-author Y’ALL EAT YET? Welcome to the Pretty B*tchin’ Kitchen with Miranda Lambert