Certificate of Merit for Excellence for Best Research in Recorded Country Music, Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) Awards, 2013. Fred Bartenstein (editor), Bluegrass/Media Person of the Year, International Bluegrass Music Awards (IBMA), 2013. "Mesmerizing . . . especially for lovers of bluegrass."
Booklist "One comes away from this interesting read with a keen understanding of a man who influenced country music, dobro playing in particular, in a way few have.  Recommended."
Choice     "A fascinating look at the musical culture of the South. . . . Thoroughly Southern, spicy, real, and lots of fun."
Library Journal "The legendary musician provides interesting insight into the ways of his long-time boss, Earl Scruggs."
MountainTimes.com   "Graves's name won't ring a bell for many outside musicians' circles, but Burkett "Uncle Josh" Graves helped take bluegrass from southern Appalachia to college campuses and beyond, to the world-music status it enjoys today. . . . Bluegrass Bluesman is unfiltered, off-the-cuff oral history."
The Wall Street Journal "In this welcome memoir, Graves proves himself a born storyteller. . . .   Rarely is a guitarist's memoir such a rich read."
Vintage Guitar "Josh Graves inspired hundreds of musicians to pick up the steel bar and slide it over the strings of the Dobro. . . . It's good and fitting that the story of this talented and influential musician is being preserved in his own words."
from Neil Rosenberg's foreword to the book  "Because Graves tells his own story in his own voice, readers do truly get a sense for whom Josh Graves was and what he and his dobro contributed to Bluegrass music."
Winchester Sun "Yet another must-read book from the University of Illinois Press."
Bluegrass Unlimited "An excellent autobiography of a highly creative musician. Graves was a first-rate storyteller with a discerning sense of what was important in his many memorable experiences." 
John Wright, author of Traveling the High Way Home: Ralph Stanley and the World of Traditional Bluegrass Music "Fred Bartenstein has done a beautiful job in covering the career of one of the great figures in bluegrass. . . . A hard book to put down."
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