From Publishers Weekly
An amiable first novel written for country-music nostalgists, this is the story of Webb Pritchard, a sensitive ex-con from Oklahoma who is trying to realize his dream of becoming a professional bluegrass banjo player. One night, he finds himself transported back in time to 1951?and a miraculous job as a band member touring with his idol, Hank Williams. Torn between playing with the greats of bluegrass in the past and a potential career (and romance) in the present, he must decide where he truly belongs. Pritchard's pleasant, intelligent voice narrates, and he easily interpolates colorful references to famous bluegrass and country musicians. The time travel conceit isn't clearly explained, but Watt, a former Miami Herald reporter, smoothly weaves the episodes of the past into the contemporary plot. Annoyingly, some minor characters are introduced and then abandoned, but the well-referenced historical background rings true, and the overall result satisfies, especially if you love the subject as much as the author clearly does. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Webb Pritchard was born in 1953, the same year Hank Williams Senior died. In 1994, after serving time in prison for shooting a petty thief in the knee, the first thing Webb does is to buy an old Gibson banjo from a Tulsa pawnshop. With a mahogany neck, flower inlay, and the words "Doc Mullican's Traveling Hayride & Medicine Show" lettered on its animal-skin head, the banjo has character. He names it Lil Darlin' and takes it with him to Telluride, Colorado, for the annual bluegrass festival. While picking with some other acoustic players, Lil Darlin' starts vibrating and suddenly Webb time travels back 43 years to join Hank Williams on the road. For several weeks in 1951, he serves as Hank's guitarist. Yet periodically and uncontrollably, he jumps back into the present, where his music career is stalled--at least until he stops playing other people's tunes and composes his own. The magic of music and the power of a dream are the soul of this uplifting first novel. Jennifer Henderson

FROM THE PUBLISHER