Dreaming Out Loud: Garth Brooks, Wynonna Judd, Wade Hayes, and the Changing Face of Nashville [Hardcover]

Bruce Feiler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1998

Inside country music and the city that calls it home, featuring backstage stories of three disparate recording artists, by an award-winning journalist.

Country music was once the voice of working-class Southerners. But during the past decade, though, country has exploded across the U.S. and emerged as the voice of the new American majority. Given exclusive and unparalleled entree to the three major talents featured in this book, Bruce Feiler brilliantly interweaves their individual stories with the larger Nashville community and the characters who bring it to life. From the historic stage of the Grand Ole Opry to the dim light of a recording studio, from the manic crush backstage at the CMA Awards to the quiet intimacy of a photo shoot, here is a ruggedly authentic behind-the-scenes tour that takes you places outsiders have never before been allowed to go.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Feiler is a Southerner who grew up distancing himself from "hillbilly" country music. After spending several years abroad, he returned to the South and soon embraced the "new" country music. One hopes that his first book on country music is not his last, for he is a savvy author and journalist who can sort through misconceptions about country music and analyze the historical background with a clarity that other writers sometimes lack. Here he concentrates on the careers of Garth Brooks, Wynonna Judd, and Wade Hayes to show what it takes to get to the top in Nashville's country music world. For balance in a collection, Feiler's book belongs with Dan Daley's Nashville's Unwritten Rules: Inside the Business of the Country Music Machine (LJ 12/97). Highly recommended for country music collections.
-?Kathleen Sparkman, Baylor Univ. Lib., Waco, TX
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Modern country music fans are better educated and wealthier than either adult contemporary or rock audiences, Feiler says. Those fans will find a thoughtful narrative about the state of their favorite music in his pages; others will at least find valuable reading on the commercialization and mainstreaming of country music. Feiler uses Garth Brooks, Wynona Judd, and Wade Hayes (who?) as his main examples of what's happening, and Waylon Jennings, Alan Jackson, Jimmie Bowen, and Dick Clark (of all people) rear their ugly heads, too, as Feiler spiritedly delineates the little changes in a star's demeanor and lifestyle that may presage bigger changes in the music. Brooks, for example, now seems more studied and less vital, like modern country in general; Feiler gives much attention to exactly when and how Brooks changed. Feiler's assessment of the country music environment comes at a time when country has attained the pinnacle of pop cultural accomplishment. His take on whether it will now descend into vapidity makes good reading for those who care. Mike Tribby

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 406 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1st edition (May 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380975785
• ISBN-13: 978-0380975785
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,789,806 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

BRUCE FEILER is one of America's most popular voices on faith, family, and finding meaning in everyday life. He is the best-selling author of nine books, including WALKING THE BIBLE, ABRAHAM, and AMERICA'S PROPHET, and one of only a handful of writers to have four consecutive New York Times nonfiction bestsellers in the last decade. He is also the writer/presenter of the PBS miniseries WALKING THE BIBLE. His latest book, THE COUNCIL OF DADS, tells the uplifting story of how friendship and community can help one survive life's greatest challenge.

Bruce Feiler's early books involve immersing himself in different cultures and bringing other worlds vividly to life. These include LEARNING TO BOW, an account of the year he spent teaching in rural Japan; LOOKING FOR CLASS, about life inside Oxford and Cambridge; and UNDER THE BIG TOP, which depicts the year he spent performing as a clown in the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus.

His recent work made him one of the country's most respected authorities on religion, politics, and the emotional issues of our time. WALKING THE BIBLE describes his perilous, 10,000-mile journey retracing the Five Books of Moses through the desert. The book was hailed as an "instant classic" by the Washington Post and "thoughtful, informed, and perceptive" by The New York Times. It spent more than a year and a half on the New York Times bestseller list, has been translated into fifteen languages, and is the subject of a children's book and a photography book.

ABRAHAM recounts his personal search for the shared ancestor of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. "Exquisitely written," wrote the Boston Globe, "100 percent engaging." The book was featured on the cover of TIME Magazine, became a runaway New York Times bestseller, and inspired thousands of grassroots interfaith discussions.

WHERE GOD WAS BORN describes his year-long trek retracing the Bible through Israel, Iraq, and Iran. "Bruce Feiler is a real-life Indiana Jones," wrote the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. AMERICA'S PROPHET recounts his unprecedented journey through American history - from the pilgrims to the founding fathers, the Civil War to the Civil Rights movement - exploring how the Exodus is America's greatest story and Moses is our true founding father. Both were New York Times bestsellers.

In 2006, PBS aired the miniseries WALKING THE BIBLE that received record ratings and was viewed by 20 million people in its first month. "Beguiling," wrote the Wall Street Journal. "Mr. Feiler is an engaging and informed guide."

Bruce Feiler has written for numerous publications, including The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and Gourmet, where he won three James Beard Awards. He is also a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, CNN, and Fox News. He has been the subject of Jay Leno joke and a JEOPARDY! question, and his face appears on a postage stamp in the Grenadines.

His latest book, THE COUNCIL OF DADS: My Daughters, My Illness, and the Men Who Could Be Me, describes how he responded to a diagnosis of cancer by asking six men from all passages of his life to be present through the passages of his young daughters's lives. "I believe my daughters will have plenty of opportunities in their lives," he wrote these men. "They'll have loving families. They'll have each other. But they may not have me. They may not have their dad. Will you help be their dad?"

A native of Savannah, Georgia, Bruce Feiler lives in New York with wife, Linda Rottenberg, and their twin daughters. For more information, please visit www.brucefeiler.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Captivating, but highly sensational..., September 15, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Dreaming Out Loud: Garth Brooks, Wynonna Judd, Wade Hayes, and the Changing Face of Nashville (Hardcover)

O.k. here goes. I thought this book was tremendously captivating and informative. It shows a different side of two of the more super-superstars and also the hard knocks that a newcomer faces in the music business via Wade Hayes. I almost didn't read this book, simply because the artists had spoken out so much about how they didn't recommend it and did not approve of it. But, I think that every true fan of country music and even those who don't care for it so much, will get alot of useful and entertaining information from it. Alot of the outerworkings of the business, as well as behind the scenes accounts of the tabloids were what I believe to be the best part of the book. I am a dedicated Wynonna fan and after reading this book, have found that many things that were confusing before reading it, are not so confusing now: Strains between the Judds when they said everything was fine, about Wynonna's biological father, her suicide attempt after Naomi threw her out of the house. All very interesting reading and seems to have a "truth" ring to it.

However, I do advise that this book does have a sensational aspect to it. Feiler covers Garth Brooks and Wynonna at times that were tumultuous and very busy for the performers. But, it does give those who know very little about the business aspect of the music business, an insiders view on the workings of such.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars +1/2 stars -- Fascinating portrait of country music business, January 7, 2003

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Dreaming Out Loud:: Garth Brooks, Wynonna Judd, Wade Hayes, And The Changing Face Of Nashville (Paperback)

Feiler's book is ostensibly a portrait of three modern country artists, Garth Brooks, Wynonna Judd and Wade Hayes. And though he provides interesting portraiture of all three, what he really documents - using the three artists as vehicles - is the changing business of the country music industry, and by association, the broader changes wrought by and to American media and culture. It's a well-written volume, with some illuminating conclusions, fleshed out by first-hand observations the author made in and around Nashville.

Much has been made of Feiler's veracity, but, to a large degree, his larger theses are independent of the specifics. Brooks and Judd have each taken their digs at Feiler (the latter being more surprising, since Feiler's portrait of Judd is, ultimately, quite flattering), so one might take his biography of their lives with a grain of salt. Even so, his conclusions about Nashville's changing face, both musically and operationally, are usually spot-on.

The Cliff's Notes rendition of Feiler's work focuses on his portraiture of the three principals: Garth Brooks as an obsessive careerist who only finds joy during his time on stage, Wynonna Judd as the screwed-up (but ultimately triumphant) result of a screwed-up childhood brought upon her by the most heinous of mothers, and Wade Hayes as the naïf, making his way through a hurricane of market forces. By threading these three stories with history of Nashville's business, the reader sees how the threads of art and commerce have intertwined over the years, with commerce realizing a substantial choke-hold on artistry in the '90s.

Of particular interest is Feiler's description of the symbiosis between artists, labels and radio. The manipulations of hit single charts, the conniving for chart position (and the lurid world of not-exactly-payola that fuels it), the trading of accurate charts for those that can be "influenced" is eye-opening for those outside the industry. Feiler's discussion about various trends in country music, the rise of women signaled, in part, by the Judd's supremacy, the displacement of Wynonna by the sex-appeal of Shania, and the replacement of earlier artists by a new wave, are all very compelling.

The book is weighted towards reporting on Garth Brooks, which isn't necessarily a negative, since his is the most complex portrait, and Feiler finds his greatest insights in Brooks' rise and plateau. On the negative side, parts of this book were previously published as magazine articles, and there is some unnecessary repetition. The careful reader will wonder whether Feiler's editor actually read the entire book through.

Feiler is a fine writer, and has provided a unique portrait of Nashville through the peak of its '90s supremacy. Whether or not you believe the details he reports on his principal subjects, there's a deep ring of truth in his analyses.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very in-depth look at the business of country music, May 24, 1998

By 

Sunstorm (TARPON SPRINGS, FLORIDA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dreaming Out Loud: Garth Brooks, Wynonna Judd, Wade Hayes, and the Changing Face of Nashville (Hardcover)

Although Garth Brooks, Wynonna and Wade Hayes are featured in the title of this book, the real key figure is the business that is country music, particularly in Nashville. Feiler uses these three artists as a jumping off point for a sometimes seemingly tangential look at the origins and growth of country music and its effects on pop culture, the city of Nashville and the music industry in general. For true country music fans, as well as those interested in the sociology of music, it is a must read. It sometimes feels a little intense, but it is a well-written tome. Unlike a recent predecessor, it does not aim to be an "inside scoop" on the stars, and is not as eager to highlight flaws. Feiler's writing appears much more objective.