Songs of Joshua Tree

Book excerpt: Songs of Joshua Tree explores music over the course of history in the area that now comprises Joshua Tree National Park and its gateway towns. This book is the result of the author's work as artist-in-residence at the park in 2014. It provides a folk-life ethnohistorical look, in an accessible story form, at music of the Native Americans who inhabited the park starting in the 1600s; the songs of the homesteaders, miners and cattlemen of the 1800s and 1900s; and the contemporary music scene of the last 50 years.The geographic area covered by the book is Joshua Tree National Park itself, and the towns of Twentynine Palms, Joshua Tree, Yucca Valley, Pioneertown, and Landers - towns whose history is intertwined with that of the park property. The musical genres covered include sacred and leisure music of the Indian tribes, folk music, rock and roll, jazz, classical, and non-traditional forms of music such as therapeutic sound baths, and the natural sounds of the park wilderness. The focus of the book is primarily on music of the people who made the area their home, but also touches on famous musicians who have come to Joshua Tree, to perform, to reflect, to create.