BOOK EVENT: What’s the Big Idea
I’m pleased to announce the imminent release of my third book, What’s the Big Idea: 30 Great Concept Albums. To celebrate its release, I’ll be appearing at Malaprop’s Bookstore in Asheville NC on Tuesday, Nov 18 at 6pm. The event is FREE, and will be livestreamed so that anyone, anywhere can join in. Details are below. — bk
Bill Kopp presents What’s the Big Idea: 30 Great Concept Albums, with 
Patricia Furnish
Tuesday, Nov. 18 @ 6pm ET
Join us in person at MALAPROP’S BOOKSTORE or streaming live online when Asheville-based writer Bill Kopp presents his new book, What’s the Big Idea: 30 Great Concept Albums, in conversation with Malaprop’s bookseller Patricia Furnish.
This is a free hybrid event with the option to attend in-store or online.
• Click HERE to register for the IN-STORE event.
• Click HERE to register for the VIRTUAL event.
Copies of What’s the Big Idea will be available for purchase, and Bill Kopp will be on hand to sign them.
What’s the Big Idea: 30 Great Concept Albums
As long as there has been music, the form has been used as a vehicle for storytelling. Artists who have something to say often find that putting it into music is the ideal means of communicating thoughts and feelings to others. And the concept-album form is a logical extension of that storytelling impulse, often writ large. It allows the writer to tackle bigger themes, more involved story lines, more finely textured characters and ideas. In the pages of What’s the Big Idea, Bill Kopp explores 30 remarkable concept albums, drawing on new, firsthand interviews with the artists behind their creation. Artists include Pete Townshend, Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers), Bob Mould (Hüsker Dü), Poe, the Avett Brothers, David Lowery (Camper van Beethoven), Rick Wakeman, Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), Todd Rundgren, Al Stewart, William Shatner and 20-plus others.
Bill Kopp is an Asheville, N.C.-based music journalist, speaker, collector, musician and lifelong music enthusiast. His writing has been featured in SPIN, GRAMMY.com, Record Collector, Goldmine, Billboard, Shindig!, Trouser Press, Prog and many other publications, including over 500 bylines in Mountain Xpress. He hosted the popular monthly Music Movie Monday series at Grail Movie House and Music to Your Ears at Asheville Guitar Bar. He’s the author of two other books on music: Reinventing Pink Floyd: From Syd Barrett to The Dark Side of the Moon and Disturbing the Peace: 415 Records and the Rise of New Wave. He blogs daily at blog.musoscribe.com
Patricia Furnish holds a Ph.D. in modern Native American history from the University of Oklahoma, where she studied the Society of American Indians and their political activism for U.S. citizenship for all Native peoples during the Progressive Era. She also has an MFA in documentary film and an MA in Spanish language and literature. Patricia hosts two book clubs at Malaprop’s: the Notorious HBC and Crime and Politics. You can learn more about Patricia at patriciafurnish.com
Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe • 55 Haywood St. • Asheville, NC 28801 • malaprops.com
About the Author
Bill Kopp
With a background in marketing and advertising, Bill Kopp got his professional start writing for Trouser Press. After a stint as Editor-in-chief for a national music magazine, Bill launched Musoscribe in 2009, and has published new content every business day since then (and every single day for several years). The more than 5000 interviews, essays, and reviews on Musoscribe reflect Bill's keen interest in American musical forms, most notably rock, jazz, and soul. His work features a special emphasis on reissues and vinyl. Bill's work also appears in many other outlets both online and in print. He regularly hosts lecture/discussions on artists and albums of historical importance (including monthly events Music to Your Ears and Music Movie Mondays), and is a frequent guest on music-focused radio programs and podcasts. In Spring 2023 he taught a history of Rock 'n' Roll at UNC Asheville's College for Seniors. He also researches and authors liner notes for album reissues -- some 40 to date -- and co-produced a reissue of jazz legend Julian "Cannonball" Adderley's final album. His first book, Reinventing Pink Floyd: From Syd Barrett to The Dark Side of the Moon was published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2018, and in paperback in 2019. His second book, Disturbing the Peace: 415 Records and the Rise of New Wave, was published in 2021 by HoZac Books. His third book, What's the Big Idea: 30 Great Concept Albums is available now. Read even more about him here.