JOHN MINTON's new album THE HILLS ARE IN BLOOM is the culmination of nearly forty years of performing and pursuing American folk music. Minton began playing in the 1970s in his hometown of Houston, Texas, inspired by roots rock, the folksong revival, and local folk heroes like Lightnin' Hopkins and Townes Van Zandt. In the 1980s he gigged around Austin while earning his PhD in folklore at the University of Texas.

More recently, he has released five critically acclaimed albums by himself and his band, THE POSSUM TROT ORCHESTRA ( John Minton, Life & Times {2003} • John Minton, Going Back to Vicksburg {2004} • The Possum Trot Orchestra {2005} • The Possum Trot Orchestra, Harbor Road {2006} & The Possum Trot Orchestra, Night Crow {2008} ). Featuring thirteen new originals, THE HILLS ARE IN BLOOM expands the eclectic approach of these earlier albums, sampling a range of roots styles—folk, blues, bluegrass, country, rock, skiffle and ragtime. Besides performing, Minton has also made a career of studying American music. Since 1990 he has been professor of folklore at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, teaching classes on American folk and popular music. His most recent book is 78 Blues: Folksongs and Phonographs in the American South (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2008).

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