Preston Lauterbach is author of the American music classic The Chitlin' Circuit, Beale Street Dynasty, and Before Elvis: The African American Musicians Who Made the King. Preston has co-authored three memoirs with significant figures in Black music, including Brother Robert with the stepsister of bluesman Robert Johnson, Timekeeper with Memphis soul drummer Howard Grimes, and the Blind Boys of Alabama biography Spirit of the Century. His works have earned book of the year recognition from the Wall Street Journal, NPR, and Rolling Stone.