Peter Guralnick, one of America’s most distinguished music historians, joins the Museum’s Michael Gray for an intimate conversation about many of the famous musicians he has known and chronicled.

Since the 1960s, Massachusetts-based author Guralnick has written extensively about country music, blues, rhythm & blues, and early rock & roll and rockabilly. His critically acclaimed books include definitive biographies of Elvis Presley, Sun Records founder Sam Phillips, and Sam Cooke.

In 2020, Peter Guralnick published "Looking to Get Lost: Adventures in Music & Writing." The book features closely observed, insightful stories about Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Dick Curless, Merle Haggard, Howlin’ Wolf, Skip James, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Monroe, Tammy Wynette, and over a dozen other musicians.

During this interview, Guralnick discusses his interactions with recording artists he has profiled—including Monroe, Curless, and Haggard—and his motivations and goals for writing about them.

Guralnick also discusses chapters of "Looking to Get Lost"—his most personal book—that describe his entry into music journalism as a young man, and the lessons he learned from his father and grandfathers. He also talks about his experiences living in Nashville each spring for twelve years during the 2000s while teaching at Vanderbilt University.

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