04/30/2026
Filmmaker/Author Robert Mugge Announces His Third Book,Quotes from the Road: The Wit and Wisdom of American Musicians, to be Published April 30th by The Sager Group
Signing Events Include May 7th in Memphis During Blues Music Awards
ATLANTA, GA – Over the past five decades, self-described “music filmmaker” Robert Mugge has produced more than three-dozen documentaries, most of them music-related, and in 2023, he published a memoir titled Notes from the Road: A Filmmaker’s Journey through American Music. Kirkus Reviews called it “a scintillating memoir and a vibrant entertaining panorama of music-making and the picaresque struggle to capture it on film,” later naming it one of the 100 “Best Indie Books of 2023.”
Now, in 2026, Mugge is publishing a second music-related book, this one a collection of thematically organized excerpts from 150 of the interviews he has conducted with American musicians, as well as with others who support their efforts. This new work, Quotes from the Road: The Wit and Wisdom of American Musicians, allows these artists to do again what they already do in his films, which is speak for themselves about their ambitions, accomplishments, and collaborations, and all that’s unique about the musical traditions and regional music scenes they represent. In fact, much of this material has never-before-been-available. Published by The Sager Group, the new book will be available in both hard and soft cover editions, as well as in digital form.
In support of his new book, Mugge is planning a series of U.S. book and film events that, where possible, will include the screening of previously unseen excerpts from filmed musician interviews. The first of these events will take place at the Memphis Listening Lab in Memphis, TN from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 7, the same day as the annual Blues Music Awards ceremony. On this occasion, Mugge will read introductory sections from his book, screen excerpts from interviews with bluesmen Bobby Rush and Elvin Bishop, and premiere an intimate new 50-minute film tribute to the longtime friendship between New Orleans singer Irma Thomas and Austin musician Marcia Ball, based around a joint interview shot on the October 2010 Blues Cruise.
In his foreword for Quotes from the Road, acclaimed biographer Aidan Levy declares, “What you have in your hands—or on your screen—is not just a book. It’s a time machine, an archive, a historical record, a musical record, a travelogue, a thousand stories all part of our one cosmic human story—maybe, most significantly, a road map to the heart and soul of American music.” He goes on to say, “Revelatory first-hand accounts abound, with anecdotes from Mugge’s varied interview subjects revealing riveting tales from the road… They are all artists who fit into the American puzzle along the periphery, where things tend to be more interesting.”
A Sampling of Interviewed Artists Sun Ra, Al Green, Sonny Rollins, Irma Thomas, Dr. John, Marcia Ball, Gil Scott-Heron, Bobby Rush, Cyril Neville, Elvin Bishop, Otis Clay, Linda Ronstadt, Rubén Blades, Mavis Staples, Doc Watson, Alison Krauss, Bill Morrissey, Ann Peebles, Jon Cleary, Del McCoury, Denise LaSalle, The Iguanas, Robert Lockwood Jr., Odetta, Kermit Ruffins, Theresa Andersson, Boozoo Chavis, Koko Taylor, Peter Rowan, Rosie Ledet, Kim Wilson, Tommy Castro, Eddie Bo, George Crumb, John Gilmore, Hazel Dickens, Major Handy, Bill Steber, Vasti Jackson, Willie Coffee, Lee Oskar, Lonnie Pitchford, Ted Drozdowski, Steve Riley, Paul Sanchez, Papa Mali, Raymond Kāne, Buckwheat Zydeco, Roy Rogers, Katie Webster, Commander Cody, Nathan Williams, Lil’ Ed Williams, Dr. John Peterson, Vicky Holt Takamine, Memphis Horns, and Michael Cleveland.
Additional Background Information Among Robert Mugge’s better-known films are Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise, New Orleans Music in Exile, Gospel According to Al Green, Deep Blues, Saxophone Colossus w/Sonny Rollins, Black Wax w/Gil Scott-Heron, Blues Divas w/Morgan Freeman, The Kingdom of Zydeco, Last of the Mississippi Jukes, Gather at the River, Deep Sea Blues, Hellhounds on My Trail, Rhythm ‘N’ Bayous, The Return of Rubén Blades, Kumu Hula, Zydeco Crossroads and, most recently, Deep Roots and Sing It for Your Sister. In addition to Notes from the Road and Quotes from the Road, Mugge has published a biography of his great-grandfather, Saloon Man: A German Immigrant Battles the Limits of Liberty, 1870 to 1915. He has also served as filmmaker in residence for Mississippi Public Broadcasting (2003-2005) and as an endowed chair professor at Ball State University (2009-2014). He is based in Muncie, IN, with his wife and filmmaking partner, Diana Zelman. For further information: www.robertmugge.com/quotes-from-the-road or www.thesagergroup.net/books/quotes-road.
Quotes about Robert Mugge
“Filmmaker Robert Mugge has…established himself as the cinema’s foremost music documentarian, with a career that includes…chronicling individual performers (Al Green, Sun Ra, Rubén Blades) and various music styles (blues, reggae, bluegrass, etc.).”
—Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
“To describe the recent films of the documentarian Robert Mugge as cultural reference books doesn’t mean to imply that these explorations of the musical byways of Southern rural America are lacking in pungent musical sap. Documents of a flourishing below-the-radar culture, they are archival records as well as entertainment.”
—Stephen Holden, The New York Times
“The prevalence of documentaries about musicians is a curse, because most of those films do a terrible job of showcasing music. One rare exception is the work of the director Robert Mugge, whose film Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise, is one of the most satisfying portraits I’ve ever seen.” —Richard Brody, The New Yorker
“Years from now, when…filmmaker Robert Mugge leaves behind his remarkable legacy of priceless documentation…musicologists, cultural historians and just plain folks are going to hail Mugge as a national treasure. Retrospectives of his work will stretch into the future, providing a timeless record of artistic expression and pure entertainment.”
-Jeff Shannon, The Seattle Times
About Aidan Levy Aidan Levy, who crafted this book’s foreword, is author of the highly praised Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins and Dirty Blvd.: The Life and Music of Lou Reed, and editor of Patti Smith on Patti Smith: Interviews and Encounters. A former Leon Levy Center for Biography Fellow, his writing has appeared in The New York Times, Jazz Times, The Nation, and other publications. He is also an Assistant Professor of English at the University of St. Joseph in West Hartford, CT and Program Director of the Jazz Generations Initiative.
For more details, contact Robert Mugge at [email protected].
Copies: Available for order wherever books and eBooks are sold. ARC available upon request. ISBN-13s eBook: 978-1-971400-05-1; Paperback: 978-1-971400-06-8; Hardcover: 978-1-9714-10-3
Hi-res cover: http://www.markpuccimedia.com/Quotes-from-the-Road-Front-Back-Cover-scaled.jpeg
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