Workin' Man Blues is possibly the most brilliantly astute and thorough examination ever written about country music in California and the impact it has had in our lives and on our culture. I'm extremely flattered to be even mentioned in such august company."—Dwight Yoakam, Singer, Songwriter "With all the pathos of a Rose Maddox ballad and more edges than a Merle Haggard song, Haslam has spun together the stories of the artists who have made California part of country music and country music part of California."—James Gregory, author of American Exodus: The Dust Bowl Migration and Okie Culture in California "This book clears new ground in both the history of music and American ethnicity. As gorgeously detailed as any shirt worn by a Rhinestone Cowboy, there's no other book like it."—Kevin Starr, State Librarian of California