Jay Orr

(Book). The Outlaw phenomenon greatly enlarged country music's audience in the 1970s. Led by pacesetters such as Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and Bobby Bare, artists in Nashville and Austin demanded the creative freedom to make their own country music, different from the pop-oriented sound that prevailed at the time. Complementing the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's exhibition Outlaws & Armadillos: Country's Roaring '70s , this 120-page, fully illustrated book examines the 1970s cultures of Nashville and fiercely independent Austin, and the complicated, surprising relationships between the two.

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is the world's largest repository of country music-related artifacts. The museum is also a major research center for the study of popular music in America. This keepsake book showcases many of the items on display in the museum's permanent exhibit, Sing Me Back Home: A Journey Through Country Music. Only a small percentage of the museum's vast collection is on exhibit in the galleries at any given time.