Press Re-Issues Minnesota Music Man Bio as E-book, Audiobook

-

A revealing biography of small-town pride, politics, and community is now re-published in e-book form, with audiobook edition soon to follow.

First published in 2019 as a 318-page trade paperback by Nodin Press, Minneapolis, Joy Riggs’s "Crackerjack Bands and Hometown Boosters: The Story of a Minnesota Music Man" tells how Minnesota towns once competed for respect, recognition, and renown by mustering talented bands of youth and other musicians.

"We're pleased to extend the potential reach of this important 20th century Midwestern history, told through the life of respected music-educator and community band-organizer G. Oliver Riggs," says Randy Brown, editor and publisher of Middle West Press LLC. "Now, people can enjoy the original Nodin Press paperback edition, or take the e-book or audiobook on the road."

Author Joy Riggs is a freelance essayist and journalist based in Northfield, Minn. She specializes in writing about history, travel, and caregiving. Her award-winning columns, essays, and articles have appeared in the Star Tribune, Minnesota Parent, Minnesota Monthly, and the Des Moines Register, among others.

Through times of war, peace, economic hardship, and personal tragedy, Riggs’s "Crackerjack Bands and Hometown Boosters" follows the career of her great-grandfather G. Oliver, his talented wife Islea, and their children. The bandleader worked in Crookston, Bemidji, Grand Forks, St. Cloud, and other cities. Ultimately, the story reveals how civic pride, community participation, and the power of music can transform lives and connect people across generations.

Los Angeles-based voice-artist Louisa Lawler, also a family member, narrates the audiobook edition.

"Crackerjack Bands and Hometown Boosters" continues to be available as a $19.95 MSRP print paperback from Nodin Press; the $19.95 e-book is available July 15, 2026 via on-line booksellers such as Amazon, and will be published as an audiobook later this fall. All editions will be available for sale at the Vintage Band Festival, Northfield, Minnesota July 30-August 2, 2026. More event info: vintagebandfestival.org

Middle West Press LLC is an Iowa-based veteran-owned micro-publisher of non-fiction, fiction, journalism, and poetry. As an independent micro-press, it publishes one to four titles annually. Its anthologies, collections, and other projects often feature the unique perspectives and narratives of the American Midwest.


 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Send Micro-stories & Poems for “Cryptids, Kaiju & Corn," Volume 2!

-
Image
Middle West Press LLC , an independent micro-publisher based in Central Iowa, has issued a call for human-generated poems and micro-prose (450 words max.) telling fantastic stories of monsters in a 21st century American Midwest. The full title of this project is Cryptids, Kaiju & Corn: Poems and Micro-Stories about Modern Midwest Monsters . This will be the second volume of an on-going series. Published in 2025, the first volume is available for sale via Amazon , Bookshop.org , Barnes & Noble , and other on-line and brick-and-mortar booksellers. Deadline for submissions is Jun. 2, 2026. There is no submissions fee. Contributors will each receive one complimentary digital contributor’s copy. This anthology will published in both print and Kindle e-book formats . Publication is projected for Fall 2026. Submit via Submittable here at this link . This is explicitly a speculative poetry (and related micro-flash-prose) market. We welcome both established artists, and those experime...
Read more

Midwest Cryptids Anthology Goes on Sale Oct. 7, 2025!

-
Image
In an exciting 148-page anthology, more than 50 emerging and established voices of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, horror, and other genres join to deliver fresh visions and explorations regarding the “forgotten” terrain and deep recesses of the American Midwest! “As people who live and visit here already know, the American Midwest is more than just ‘Children of the Corn,’” writes anthology editor Randy Brown. “ Giants still walk our flat and rolling lands, and swim in our deep lakes and rivers. Ask around any truck stop or diner, and you’ll likely meet or hear-tell of frog people. Dog men. Wendigo spirits. Even our endless, flyover-skies contain ancient and thunderous birds . Remember that, as you run to your next connections.” The book Cryptids, Kaiju & Corn: Poems and Micro-Stories about Modern Midwest Monsters collects more than 70 short poems and 300-word narratives of mythic beasts that illuminate, celebrate, or challenge stereotypes of Midwestern identity. Sections of the anthol...
Read more

N.Y. Poet Pamela Hart is Named War Poetry Postcard Project Finalist

-
Image
New York state poet  Pamela Hart  has been named one of three finalists has been named one of three finalists in the inaugural  War Poetry Postcard Project (WPPP) , a  literary arts experiment to promote empathy and conversation on the effects of war and violence.  It is co-sponsored by  Middle West Press LLC  and  Collateral Journal . Hart is writer-in-residence at the Katonah Museum of Art in Katonah, N.Y. The author of the poetry collection  Mothers Over Nangarhar   (Sarabande Books), she is also a poetry editor for Afghan Voices and the Afghan Women's Writing Project, and assistant non-fiction editor for  Consequence Forum . The  War Poetry Postcrard Project  contest encouraged short poems engaging themes relevant to armed conflict, state violence, and military service.  Hart’s winning poem describes a dream-like, liminal time-space that interconnects mothers of all eras and nations . The poem begin...
Read more