Every publishing company starts with one book. Ours is launched with Portraits of the Blues, a book by Darrell Arnold, with portraits by Irena Gapkovska. The book was developed to accompany a record by the same name that is published through Arco Records. Portraits of the Blues includes a book and album. It is an introduction the music and worldviews of key Delta and Texas blues artists from the early twentieth century. The musicians highlighted are Bessie Smith, Robert Johnson, Tommy Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James, Robert Petway, and Lightnin’ Hopkins. The book author, Darrell Arnold, is an academic philosopher, and the book reflects his philosophical training. While it does not provide an overview of each musician's "philosophy of life," it does approach the lives of the musicians through a philosophical lens. It discusses the musicians' views of the blues and religion, and ways in which their music in many cases came to have a certain political force, even without the artists’ intent.
The album accompanying the book was produced by the Nashville-based guitarist, multi-instrumentalist and producer, Jack Shawde, and features his work throughout. It includes interpretations of key songs of the highlighted artists. The recordings range from simple guitar/vocal arrangements with keyboard accompaniment to more complex five-piece band arrangements, honoring the original versions without attempting to duplicate them.
After Darrell completed the recording with Jack, he approached Don Sarley of Arco Records, who suggested accompanying the album with a book: So the second part of the project was born. The album appears with Arco Records. Don Sarley is Executive Producer. The album will be available in early September 2024.
The owners of Sisyphus Publishers are Darrell Arnold and Sarah Jacob, two philosophy professors and performing singer-songwriters. They plan to use the company for publishing endeavors in areas of philosophy and culture.
Here are links to others who have been instrumental in the development of the book and album.