Don Cusic

Don Cusic (born November 13, 1948 in Leonardtown, Maryland) is an American biographer, writer on music, and historian of United States American popular music. He is the author of 18 books, most of them related to country music.

Biography

Cusic grew up in St. Mary’s County, Maryland and attended St. Mary’s College and the University of Maryland, College Park, where he graduated with a degree in Business and Public Administration (1972). After graduation he moved to Tennessee and became actively involved in the music industry the following year. Cusic served as staff writer for the Country Music Association, country and gospel editor of two trade magazines (Record World and Cashbox), head of artist development and international liaison for Monument Records and as an artist manager (with partner Dan Beck) for Riders In The Sky and Dickie Lee.

Cusic has written biographies of country artists Eddy Arnold, Gene Autry, Riders in the Sky, Randy Travis and Reba McEntire and his book Discovering Country Music is a history of the genre as well as an overview of the current industry. He wrote biographical essays and edited books of lyrics on Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. His book, The Sound of Light: A History of Gospel and Christian Music, was the first historical overview of contemporary Christian music.

As editor of The Western Way, the quarterly publication of the Western Music Association, Cusic wrote articles on the leading figures in that field; in addition, he wrote an encyclopedia of cowboys (Cowboys and the Wild West: From the Chisholm Trail to the Silver Screen) and a biography of Henry Flipper, the first black graduate of West Point.

He has written album liner notes for Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, George Jones, Sonny James, Gary Paxton, George Beverly Shea, Sheb Wooley, Floyd Cramer and Jimmy Long.

In addition to his articles, liner notes and papers, Don Cusic has written songs recorded by The Lewis Family, Lynn Morris, Linda Davis, Eve Goldberg, Pam Mark Hall, Carroll Baker, Darrell McCall and Chris LeDoux. He has appeared a number of times on CMT programs, including the "Controversy" series, "Greatest Patriotic Songs," "Waiting in the Wings" and others; he appeared on a number of TNN shows, including "Life and Times of Eddy Arnold" and the A&E Biography Series (on Hank Williams). He also appeared on the BBC series "Lost Highway: The History of Country Music" and “White Gospel.”

Cusic is the founding member and Chair of the Belmont Book Award, given each year to the best book in country music during the International Country Music Conference. He earned a Masters (1982) and Doctorate (1988) in English from Middle Tennessee State University and is Professor of Music Business at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Writings

Books

• 2009: The Trials of Henry Flipper. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company.
• 2008: Discovering Country Music. New York: Praeger.
• 2007: Gene Autry: his life and career. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company
• 2004: Johnny Cash: the Songs. New York: Thunder's Mouth, a division of Avalon.
• 2003: Baseball and Country Music. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press.
• 2003: It's the Cowboy Way: the amazing true adventures of Riders in the Sky. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky.
• 2002: Merle Haggard: Poet of the Common Man. New York: Hal Leonard.
• 2002: The Sound of Light: a history of Gospel and Christian music. New York: Hal Leonard.
• 1997: Eddy Arnold: I'll Hold You in My Heart. Nashville, Tennessee: Rutledge Hill.
• 1996: Music in the Market. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University Popular Press.
• 1995: Willie Nelson: Lyrics 1957-1994. New York: St. Martin's Press.
• 1994: Cowboys and the Wild West: an A-Z guide from the Chisholm Trail to the Silver Screen. New York: Facts on File.
• 1993: Hank Williams: the Complete Lyrics. New York: St. Martin's Press.
• 1991: The Poet as Performer. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America.
• 1991: Reba: Country Music's Queen. New York: St. Martin's Press.
• 1990: Randy Travis: the King of the New Country Traditionalists. New York: St. Martin's Press.
• 1988: Sandi Patti: the Voice of Gospel. New York: Doubleday.

Chapters in books

• 2008: "Cowboys in Chicago". In: Chad Berry (ed.) The Hayloft Gang: the story of the National Barn Dance. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
• 2007: "Music". In: Gary Hoppenstand, gen. ed.; Michael Schoenecke, vol. ed. The Greenwood Encyclopedia of World Popular Culture', Westport, CT: Greenwood; (p. 25).
• 2007: "Johnny Cash and C. S. Lewis". In: Bob Batchelor (ed.) Literary Cash, Dallas, Texas: BenBella Books; (pp. 179–187).
• 2006: "Loretta Lynn". In: Dennis and Susan Hall (eds.) Icons. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
• 2006: "Johnny Cash". In: Dennis and Susan Hall (eds.) Icons. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
• 2005: "Gene Autry in World War II". In Charles Wolfe and James Akenson (Ed.) Country Goes to War. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky.
• 2002: "The Development of Gospel Music". In: Allan Moore (ed.) Cambridge Companion to Blues and Gospel Music. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
• 1999: "Baseball and Country Music". In: Peter M. Rutkoff and Alvin Hall (eds.) The Cooperstown Symposium: 1999. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland.
• 1998: "Country Green: the money in Country Music". In: Cecelia Tichi (ed.) Reading Country Music: steel guitars, Opry stars, and honky tonk bars. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press.

Encyclopedia entries

• 2006: The American Gospel Music Encyclopedia. ed. William K. McNeil. Routledge Press.
• 2004: Encyclopedia of the Great Plains, ed. David J. Wishart, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press
• 2003: Encyclopedia of Protestantism; ed. Hans J. Hillerbrand. New York: Routledge.
• 2001: Guide to United States Popular Culture; ed. Ray B. Browne and Pat Browne. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University Popular Press.
• 1998: The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History & Culture; a project of the Tennessee Historical Society, ed. Carroll Van West. Nashville, Tenn.: Tennessee Historical Society; Rutledge Hill Press. ISBN 1558535993
• 1998: Encyclopedia of Country Music; ed. Paul Kingsbury. New York: Oxford University Press.

^[1]

References

1. ^ "Don Cusic". Don Cusic. http://doncusic.com/. Retrieved 2010-07-26. 

External links

• Official Website

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Name	Cusic, Don
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Date of birth	November 13, 1948
Place of birth
Date of death
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