On the cover: Dolly Parton. Construction by Tim Shawl; photograph by Robert Pierce. Song lyric from "Light Of A Clear Blue Morning" by Dolly Parton.

FRONT PORCH
Hello Stranger; Box Full Of Letters; Field Reportings.

A PLACE TO BE
Regional portrait
A loop around Lake Superior (aka "what Peter did on his summer vacation").

MIKED
Live reviews
Tom Waits in New York City, NY; "Sessions At West 54th" Gram Parsons tribute in New York City, NY; Hank Williams tribute in Washington, DC; Buddy Holly Rock & Roller Dance Party in New York City, NY; Roger McGuinn in Chicago, IL; Kitty Wells in Columbia, SC; Alex Chilton in Athens, GA; Dirk Powell, Tim O'Brien, John Herrmann in Nashville, TN; Dale Watson, Hangdogs in Lexington, KY.

TOWN & COUNTRY
Brief regional features
Jon Randall (Nashville, TN); David Wiffen (Ottawa, ON); Nancy Moore (Medart, FL); Map Of Wyoming (San Francisco, CA); Joe Goldmark (San Francisco, CA); Accelerators (Raleigh, NC); Sugarfoot (Milwaukee, WI); Meredith Miller (Dallas, TX); Flathead (Tempe, AZ); Mulehead (Little Rock, AR); Accident Clearinghouse (Champlin, MN).

DON'T ASK ME NO QUESTIONS
Q&A
Dave Schramm (interview by Paige La Grone)

THE LONG CUT
Extended features
Gomez (by Allison Stewart)
Michael Hurley (by David Greenberger)
Dolly Parton (by Linda Ray)
Sacred Steel (by Geoffrey Himes)
Kris Kristofferson (by Roxy Gordon)

NOT FADE AWAY
Reissues
African-American Fiddlers, 1926-1949; The Legendary 1938 & 1939 Carnegie Hall Concerts; Big Brother & the Holding Company; Porter Wagoner & the Blackwood Brothers Quartet; Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys; Ernest Tubb & the Texas Troubadours; Holy Modal Rounders; Maya y Cantu; Lydia Mendoza; Johnny Cash; Carl Perkins; Steve Pride.

WAXED
Record reviews
John Prine; Poor Little Knitter On The Road; Blue Mountain; Derailers; Linda Ronstadt/Emmylou Harris; Guy Clark; Two Dollar Pistols with Tift Merritt; David Grisman/John Hartford/Mike Seeger; Ramblin' Jack Elliott; Don Walser; Hank Williams III; Marshall Crenshaw; Sally Timms; Roger Wallace; Anna Fermin's Trigger Gospel; Innocence Mission; Dudley Connell/Don Rigsby; Trailer Bride; Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum; Tony Rice/Larry Rice/Chris Hillman/Herb Pedersen; Cindy Bullens; East River Pipe; Ex-Husbands; Red Dirt Rangers; Rob Veal.

BOUND
Book reviews
Harry Smith - Selected Interviews (edited by Rani Singh); Patsy Cline's Letters To A Friend (by Cindy Hazen and Mike Freeman)

THE NO DEPRESSION TOP 40
A retail chart for July-August 1999.

SCREEN DOOR
Stuff we like
Baseball diamonds in the rough (aka "what Grant did on his summer vacation").