Meridian Rising

DEBUT NOVEL SEPTEMBER 2025

‘What if all the stories about Jimmie Rodgers were true—and someone could make you believe them?  The result—from days at Coney Island to Rodgers asking Delta blues king Charley Patton, traveling as Elder J. J. Hadley, to preach at his funeral, and Patton, with one more year to live than Rodgers, previewing a one-train-to-heaven one-train-to-hell sermon on the spot—is a book of wonders.’ 
--Greil Marcus, author of Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock ‘n’ Roll Music
 

PB's debut novel Meridian Rising will be published by the University of Georgia Press/NewSouth Books in September 2025. You can pre-order a copy here. Meridian Rising is inspired by the life of American music legend Jimmie Rodgers and deftly blends fact and fiction to create a vibrant tale worthy of the Mississippi-born entertainer Howling Wolf called “my man that I really dug.” 

Meridian Rising is informed and inspired by new and previously unpublished research and will take readers deep into Jimmie's world and his friends Louis Armstrong, Charley Patton, the Mississippi Sheiks, talent scout H.C. Speir, Tommy Johnson, Snoozer Quinn, and a young Chester Burnett, the future Howling Wolf. 

Learn more about Jimmie from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the  Country Music Hall of Fame. This fall, PB with special guest Fats Kaplin will appear at the Hall of Fame's Ford Theater in Nashville for a book reading and performance. Look for more details this summer.

Thanks to everyone who joined us live in Malaga, Spain for the 31st annual annual Rockin' Race Jamboree featuring PB with Eddie Angel and Smokestack Lightning. Check out the rock. 

 

Also coming this year, PB & WPA Ballclub will release a new long playing album, Cry Love, recorded with the WPA Ballclub featuring Fats Kaplin and surprise guests. Look for more info soon.