Grammy nominee Robert Randolph graciously provided an endorsement for Robert Stone’s forthcoming book Sacred Steel: Inside an African American Steel Guitar Tradition.

“This book honors the legacy of the men who paved my musical path.  All of us in the Sacred Steel brotherhood owe Bob a debt of gratitude for documenting our musical tradition.”

Most often identified with country and western bands, steel guitar is almost unheard of in African American churches—except for the House of God and the Church of the Living God, where it has been part of worship since the 1930s. Sacred Steel traces the tradition through four generations of musicians and in some two hundred churches extending across the country from Florida to California, Michigan to Alabama. The book will be published in September 2010.