Southern (music) man

Marc Smirnoff, editor of The Oxford American, says the magazine's music issue includes CDs because after reading an intriguing article about music, you want to hear it.

The Oxford American magazine's music issue is the best of both worlds: stories with music to match the words. Featuring contributions this year from Greil Marcus, Roy Blount Jr., and Peter Guralnick, among many others, the annual issue focuses on Southern music, which, of course, runs the gamut of blues, rock 'n' roll, jazz, country, gospel, and so on.

This year's 10th anniversary issue - which is on newsstands until March 1 and also available at www.oxfordamericanmag.com - comes with two discs of music featuring everyone from alt-country chanteuse Neko Case to bluesman Furry Lewis. (If you think the profile of Arkansas oddball couple Elton and Betty White is bizarre, wait until you hear Elton singing "A Jelly Behind Woman Blows My Mind.")

We caught up with Oxford American editor and founder Marc Smirnoff recently to see what, exactly, Southern music is.

Q. You mention in your editor's note that the music issue is the magazine's most popular one. Why is that?

A. When I started the music issue back in the pre-Internet days, you'd read about a musician who you'd never heard of in a magazine. And if it was an intriguing article, you would end up being disappointed because the first thing you want to do after reading an intriguing article about music is hear it. We thought combining text and audio would make a lot of sense. Also, the aim of the CDs is to make a great party mix rather than to present the music academically.

Q. What's a common misconception about Southern music?

A. Sometimes when you mention Southern music to people outside the South, the first thing they think about it is the blues - droney, acoustic, scratchy, old-time blues. Other people will think it's just country music. When people think of Southern music as something they can put in a box and kick to the curb, I point out that it's not just Southerners who read Faulkner. It's not just Southerners who like Elvis.

Q. Is there anything, aside from region, that really brands something Southern music?

A. No, and that's sort of the greatness of it. When you get down to defining Southern music, you start defining American music. The other thing I love about this topic is that we all know that the South has had a horrific history at times. And yet it was in the midst of this horrific history that a lot of this music was created. Even during the worst times, people of all colors still aspired to be universal, the universal that is within all great music. I find in that a liberating message that through thick and thin, thank God we have music at least to prop us again and reenergize us.