Nirvana
The Biography
by Everett True

Everett True was the first journalist to cover the music scenes in Seattle, Olympia, and Aberdeen in early 1989 and to interview Nirvana. He is responsible for bringing Hole, Pavement, Soundgarden, and a host of other bands to international attention. He also introduced Kurt Cobain to Courtney Love, performed on stage with Nirvana on numerous occasions, and famously pushed Kurt onto the stage of the Reading Festival in 1992 in a wheelchair.

Nirvana: The Biography is an honest, moving, incisive, and heartfelt re-evaluation of a band that has been misrepresented time and time again since its tragic demise in April 1994 following Kurt Cobain’s suicide (and yes, it was a suicide). Everett True captures what the band was really like, from their blue collar beginnings in Aberdeen to bewildering worldwide stardom. He also faithfully chronicles the rich cultural ferment that was brewing in the Northwest in the late ’80s and ’90s which spawned bands like Green River, Mother Love Bone, and the Screaming Trees— as well as groundbreaking independent labels like K Records and Sub Pop. Nirvana: The Biography is a compelling, fiercely opinionated chronicle of the musical landscape of an era—the fellow bands, the scenes, the friends and allies, and the ever-present drug dealers.

Drawn from hundreds of original interviews, this is the final, devastating word on Nirvana, Kurt Cobain, and Northwest grunge.

“[True’s] insider perspective...brings thoughtful insight to Cobain's dramatic crash-and-burn...His opinionated, idiosyncratic take on the band is sure to set tongues wagging and respark the debate over how things went so wrong for Cobain so fast.” -- Publishers Weekly

“Forget the journals and the ‘authorized’ biography: This is the book anyone touched by Nirvana has been waiting for.” -- Mojo

“A more vivid account from an insider’s perspective than anything else yet published about this extraordinary band...an entertaining story rich in chaotic and often gruesome detail.” -- The Guardian

About the Author:

Everett True is "the man who invented grunge" (Entertainment Weekly) and the author of biographies of the Ramones, the White Stripes, Supergrass, and many others. He lives in Brighton, England.

To Live's to Fly
The Ballad of the Late, Great Townes Van Zandt
by John Kruth

To Live’s to Fly is the bracing, fully authorized biography of singer-songwriter-guitarist Townes Van Zandt (1944–1997), who wrote such classic songs as If I Needed You and Waitin’ ’round to Die

Born to a wealthy oil family in Ft. Worth, hounded by alcoholism and unshakable depression, Van Zandt pursued an often nomadic existence on the fringes of society. Along the way, he composed a striking body of work simultaneously heartbreaking in its beauty and terrifying in its willingness to go to the darkest of places. His songs were covered by such artists as Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard (who scored a No. l hit duetting on Van Zandt’s signature tune Pancho and Lefty), Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan, Doc Watson, Nanci Griffith, the Cowboy Junkies, Tindersticks, and Mudhoney.

John Kruth has interviewed nearly everyone who was close to Townes Van Zandt, including his best friend, songwriter Guy Clark; musical colleagues like Steve Earle, John Prine, Rodney Crowell, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Jerry Jeff Walker; as well as his ex-wives and children. What emerges is the portrait of a tremendously intelligent and charismatic man with a warm sense of humor and a generous nature...and an unstoppable inclination toward self-destruction. Van Zandt lived life on his own terms - and died of a heart attack on New Year’s Day, the same day his idol, Hank Williams, died forty-four years earlier.

To Live’s to Fly is the compelling story of a generation of truly outlaw country artists, one that captures all the humor, hijinks, poetry, and heartbreak of this most revered of songwriters.

“A fervent tribute to a true legend of American songwriting. John Kruth has tracked the back
story of Townes Van Zandt like a manic bloodhound without spoiling the mystery of the man.”
-- Sam Shepard

“...[a] detail- laden yet very readable book that well might revive Van Zandt’s memory.” --Booklist

About the Author:

John Kruth is a songwriter and musician with eight albums to his credit. He is the author of Bright Moments: The Life and Legacy of Rashaan Roland Kirk. He lives in New York City.