Edited by Nancy C. McEntire, Grey Larsen, and Janne Henshaw, with two articles by Dillon Bustin. The long-awaited new edition of the songs of a legendary Hoosier musician, including a CD and 19 new songs.

Paperback with spiral binding. 256 pages, 220 black and white photographs, musical transcriptions of 120 songs, two indexes, 8 1/2" x 11". Published by Quarry Books, an imprint of Indiana University Press.

The book comes with one CD which contains 23 songs, chosen to give a representative sampling from the 120 songs in the book. However, to have recordings of all of the songs in the book, one must buy the set of five companion Lotus Dickey Songbook Companion CDs, or buy MP3 downloads of individual songs at the MP3 section of this site. These CD tracks are taken almost entirely from field and home recordings of Lotus Dickey by himself, singing and playing guitar, newly remastered by Grey Larsen.

Grey cites Lotus Dickey as one of his most inspiring mentors, both in music and in how to live life. Lotus always seemed able to take hardship and transform it, through music, into a celebration and love. This spirit is manifested beautifully in his songs.

The Paoli, Indiana, folk and traditional musician Lotus Dickey (1911 - 1989) is world renowned for his singing, songwriting, and fiddling. Dickey's unfulfilled desire to publish a book of his songs became a reality when a group of good friends and fellow musicians compiled the first edition of this book after his death. By the 1980s, when his artistry was at its peak, Dickey's active repertoire was very close to what is represented here-120 songs, both Dickey originals and some of his favorite traditional songs. The spirit of sharing, so deep a part of Lotus Dickey's personal philosophy, inspired this songbook. Long out of print, the new volume improves on the original with 19 new songs and a CD in place of cassette tapes.

Nancy C. McEntire is Associate Professor of English at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Grey Larsen is a musician, composer, author, recording artist, record producer, and the music editor of Sing Out! magazine. He lives in Bloomington, Indiana.

Janne Henshaw is a songwriter and recording artist. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Dillon Bustin is the director of the Emerson Umbrella Center for the Arts in Concord, Massachusetts. He is also a musician an composer.