Songcatchers: In Search of the World's Music

by Mickey Hart & K.M. Kostyal

Legendary Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart looks at what music is and at the songcatchers who have gone to the remote corners of the planet to record it-thus preserving and deepening cultural diversity worldwide. The personal tales of the songcatchers are full of romance, derring-do, and intrigue. The book shows how technology and curiosity have carried the shamanic chants of Siberia, the dying folk music of isolated European villages, and the ecstatic gemelan sounds of Bali to music lovers all over the world. Hart ventures across time and continents in following the songcatchers and their machines. Throughout it all he celebrates music and its ability to transcend the mundane and transport the human spirit.