He Is My Story: The Sanctified Soul of Arizona Dranes

By: Michael Corcoran

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Synopsis: In anticipation of 'The Record Store of the Mind', a new book by Tompkins Square record label founder Josh Rosenthal out October 20th, Tompkins Square Books offers a fresh look at their first release - 2012's 'He Is My Story : The Sanctified Soul of Arizona Dranes,' by Michael Corcoran. This book/CD package was nominated for a Grammy Award, Best Historical Album, in 2013. Corcoran, former music critic and columnist for the Austin American-Statesman, has spent years unearthing revelatory details on the life of Arizona Dranes, a mysterious woman behind the music that set the mold in 1926 for rockin' singer/ pianists with six "test records" that have stood the test of time. Until now, very little has been correctly reported about Dranes other than the facts that she was blind, from Texas, had a piercing Pentecostal voice and was the first recording artist to play piano in the secular styles of the day, while singing words of deep praise.