Horse Racing and Rock 'N' Roll

Four Books in One

BOOK ONE: A fading middle-aged country music singer's home on a Tennessee pig farm burns. The man relocates to Austin, Texas, where he finds a live music scene playing a new kind of country. The legendary Armadillo World Headquarters embraces him and then Jerry Wexler discovers him. The musician holds a picnic, grows his hair long, and forever changes the sound of country music. Thanks to the Armadillo.

BOOK TWO: The live music scene in Austin blossoms as local and national artists collaborate. Springsteen, The Clash, ZZ Top, and the Grateful Dead find success and fans in the Texas Capital. Readers are taken on a club crawl highlighting the hippy, punk, blues, rock convergence and the era of Lance Armstrong.

BOOK THREE: Eccentric filmmakers and musicians create a 3rd Coast in Austin. Board games and Michael Dell lead to the Electronic Arts world of interactive. City officials recognize live music as an industry and four guys give birth to the annual South by Southwest festival.  [should it be Electronic Arts' ?]

BOOK FOUR: A young woman brings a notorious Englishman to town and they establish the Manor Downs Horse Racetrack and Concert Facility. She then finds a wild Irishman who helps her launch the career of local blues guitar ace, Stevie Ray Vaughan. Meanwhile an assortment of visitors stream through the Downs, from Mick Jagger to John Connally and Wavy Gravy.