Revival, by Stephen King

Involves an aging rock-and-roll guitar player and his longtime relationship with an ex-preacher who has lost his faith in God and has turned to experimenting with "secret electricity."  It's not the best book I've read by King, but it was nonetheless captivating. The hocus-pocus is mostly crap, and of a predictable type, but the underlying philosophy is rather disturbing. I won't reveal more in case you want to read the book some day.

King uses some elements of carnival culture in this novel, which reminds me of Joyland,  which I read not too long ago. It seems that he didn't waste any leftover research from that effort.

This Wheel's on Fire, by Levon Helm with Stephen Davis

Levon Helm and the story of The Band.

This is pretty obviously "co-written," and gets a little thin at times, but it is an interesting account of one of my very favorite musical groups. Levon Helm came from Arkansas, the rest of The Band came from Canada.

In this book we learn of the roots of The Band, from Ronnie Hawkins and The Hawks, to the many jobs backing Bob Dylan, and the subsequent recording sessions and performances that made their place in history under their super-generic name.

Worth reading just for the biographies and anecdotes of the time.

New York Times review.