Biographical and critical portraits of 13 of rock & roll, blues, folk, and alt-country's most inimitable artists. These often irreverent essays offer a riotous, toe-tapping and original take on how each musician shaped their genre, while looking into their tumultuous lives. Ray Robertson is a Canadian novelist, and a book reviewer for The Globe and Mail. He is the author of Why Not: Fifteen Reasons to Live. He lives in Toronto.

Illustrations and cover illustration by Chloe Cushman.

Gene Clark -- Ronnie Lane -- The Ramones -- Sister Rosetta Tharpe -- Townes Van Zandt -- Little Richard -- Alan Wilson -- Willie P. Bennett -- Gram Parsons -- Hound Dog Taylor -- Paul Siebel / Willis Alan Ramsey -- John Hartford.