With a combination of song lyrics and reflective essays, Alabama author Frye Gaillard and recording artist Kathryn Scheldt pay tribute to the literary legacy of Alabama songwriters. Included here are reflections on the works of Hank Williams, Emmylou Harris, and W. C. Handy, among many others. Scheldt and Gaillard share Emmylou's view that the Americana music coming out of Alabama has been "the literature of the people." In addition to writing about this tradition, these two authors are part of it. In these pages and on an accompanying CD are songs co-written by Scheldt and Gaillard.