Fodor's Guidebook: "The Great American Music Road Trip"
Fodor's Best Road Trips in the USA won the Silver Award in the Best Guidebook category at the 2022 Lowell Thomas Awards.
I was commissioned to create a music-themed road trip for this guidebook. As I researched, I saw an opportunity to give it a more unique angle. I re-pitched it as a road trip that immersed travelers in the story of American popular music, following its family tree across the south, where it all began. In addition to exploring the birthplaces of the three root genres of jazz, blues, and Appalachian music, the itinerary also takes road trippers to key places where some of the "offspring" genres emerged. The goal was to foster a deeper understanding of American music and to inspire readers to listen for and discover connections between songs across different eras and genres.
I created, researched, and wrote up this 11-day trip from New Orleans to Nashville (via Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Virginia, and Kentucky). Excerpts (not the full text) are below.
