Jesse Ulmer, PhD

The term “roots music” first emerged in the 1950s and 1960s, when popular performers like Bob Dylan drew on various forms of American folk music to inspire their own musical revolution and, in the process, transformed it into a form of popular music itself.

The genres that constitute American roots music each have their own particular histories and most are in fact not technically “native” to the United States. They were originally imported from Europe, Africa, and other places from which people migrated, whether by force, necessity, or choice. Once these forms arrived in North America, like the people who carried them, they evolved and adapted to become something that today is often identified as, or perceived to be, uniquely American. What draws these genres together under a single, unifying term is that they are widely considered—by musicians, by critics, and by fans—to constitute the source or “roots” of traditional American music.

The Coen Brothers & American Roots Music is available now from distributors. Get your copy and support your local indie Bookshop!

Trivia: Joel Daniel Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen were born and raised in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis.

“As I reflect on it now, my attraction to [the Coens and American roots music] was probably the result of moving so far from my home to live and work in a place and culture very remote from my own. In this sense, writing the book gave me a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with my roots. [I]t occurs to me that maybe this is precisely what the Coens and T-Bone Burnett have ultimately achieved with their roots music films, giving anyone with an open and curious ear an opportunity to reconnect to the roots of American music and cultural history.”

— Dr. Jesse Ulmer, author of The Coen Brothers & American Roots Music

Welcome to my page! I'm the author of The Coen Brothers and American Roots Music, which is available now. It is the first book specifically devoted to giving a full account of the rich legacy of roots music in the Coen brothers’ filmography, a project long overdue given the enormous respect paid to the brothers for the music in their films.

Read more about the book on my website: www.drjesseulmer.com or order it directly from my publisher: mcfarlandbooks.com/product/the-coen-brothers-and-american-roots-music/

And let me know your favorite Coen movie soundtrack while you're here and check out the Spotify playlist for the book: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4RbeIRYagmzBGlhqpNUIHa?si=fb7456c37bc34006