Preston Lauterbach
Preston Lauterbach is the author of the American music classic The Chitlin' Circuit and the Road to Rock 'n' Roll (2011), which established him as one of the essential chroniclers of Black American musical history. His follow-up, Beale Street Dynasty (2015), recovered the lost world of swaggering musicians, corrupt politicians, and civil rights pioneers who made Memphis's most famous street the main street of Black America. His most recent book, Before Elvis: The African American Musicians Who Made the King (2025), definitively answers the long-debated question of who really created rock 'n' roll — restoring credit, and glory, to the Black artists who made Elvis Presley possible.
Lauterbach has also co-authored memoirs with three towering figures in Black music: Brother Robert (2020), with Annye C. Anderson, stepsister of bluesman Robert Johnson; Timekeeper (2021), with Memphis soul drummer Howard Grimes; and Spirit of the Century (2024), the biography of the Blind Boys of Alabama.
The Chitlin' Circuit was named a Best Nonfiction Book of the Year by the Wall Street Journal and the Boston Globe, and an NPR Best Book of the Year. Before Elvis was named Best Blues Book of 2025 by Living Blues. His work has earned book of the year recognition from the Wall Street Journal, NPR, and Rolling Stone.
Preston was born in Richmond, Virginia, grew up in San Diego, and studied history at Flagler College, the University of Mississippi, and the University of Virginia. He is a former visiting scholar at Rhodes College and former fellow at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, and lives with his family near Charlottesville, Virginia.
The Chitlin’ Circuit and the Road to Rock and Roll
“Lauterbach’s tribute . . . is welcome and overdue.” ―Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post
A Wall Street Journal Best Nonfiction book of 2011
Beale Street Dynasty
The vivid history of Beale Street―a lost world of swaggering musicians, glamorous madams, and ruthless politicians―and the battle for the soul of Memphis.
“Beale Street Dynasty” adds a fascinating chapter to civil rights history…this gracefully written book never loses sight of the fun…”
James Gavin, The New York Times
Review by Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal
Bluff City:
The Secret Life of Photographer Ernest Withers
The little-known story of an iconic photographer, whose work captured―and influenced―a critical moment in American history.
Bluff City in The Intercept
Bluff City in Newsweek
Bluff City in The New Yorker
Brother Robert
An intimate memoir by blues legend Robert Johnson's stepsister, including new details about his family, music, influences, tragic death, and musical afterlife
A Rolling Stone-Kirkus Best Music Book of 2020
“[Brother Robert} book does much to pull the blues master out of the fog of myth.”—Rolling Stone
Brother Robert in Vanity Fair
Timekeeper
The first-person insider account of the birth and expansion of the Memphis Sound, told by Howard Grimes, the celebrated house drummer from the early days at both iconic Memphis soul studios, Stax Records and Hi Records.
Elias Leight’ piece on Timekeeper in Rolling Stone