Meridian Rising with Paul Burch

Join us for a book reading and live performance by musician, author, and scholar Paul Burch. Burch’s debut novel, Meridian Rising, is an imagined memoir that traces the life of Jimmie Rodgers—the Father of Country Music. Deftly blending history and fiction to create a vibrant alternate life, Burch brings another dimension to Jimmie’s story, the lives he touched, and the lives he inspired. Blues historian and host of MPB’s Highway 61, Scott Barretta, will join Burch in conversation.

Part-concert, part-book reading, this event is presented in partnership with the Jimmie Rodgers Museum.

This event is free and open to the public. Please let us know you are coming to help us prepare.

“I’ve got a few friends who possess encyclopedic knowledge of the history of country music, and they can all tell you where the bodies are buried. Paul Burch can show you where the ghosts reside.” — Steve Earle

“Jimmie Rodgers comes a-yodelin’ out of Paul Burch’s novel as if he were with us today. This is a tour de force of musical imagination.” — Roy Blount Jr, author of Save Room for Pie

“What if all the stories about Jimmie Rodgers were true—and someone could make you believe them?  The result—is a book of wonders.” — Greil Marcus, author of Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock ‘n’ Roll Music