In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book.
Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Hanif Abdurraqib, Andrew Sean Greer, Roxane Gay, and many others.
Scott Gould’s novel Beneath a Fallen Sky is a mesmerizing account of four northeast Alabamians facing predicted peril when Halley’s Comet appeared in 1910.
Ethan Rutherford wrote of the book:
“Scott Gould is a fantastic, natural born storyteller, and in Beneath A Fallen Sky he brings the Sand Mountain region and its inhabitants to full, singing life as they anxiously await the arrival of Halley’s Comet in the spring of 1910. The history here is deeply felt and fully inhabited, a true pleasure on the page—as are the cosmic questions this novel raises and turns over, which lift from the book to lodge in your chest.”
In his own words, here is Scott Gould’s Book Notes music playlist for his novel Beneath a Fallen Sky:
Here’s Beneath a Fallen Sky in a nutshell: It’s May, 1910. Halley’s comet is hurtling toward Earth. A strange sort of panic grips the mountains of northeast Alabama as some scientists and astronomers predict the end of all life. The novel follows four characters in the valley town of Fort Payne and up on Sand Mountain as they navigate what could be their final days. The book is definitely setting-dependent, so it made sense to create a playlist that draws on the rich musical traditions of Alabama and the Appalachian mountains. In addition, I borrowed a great deal of family lore and traditions to write the story, so some of the songs have a direct connection to my family tree that’s rooted in northeast Alabama.
The Louvin Brothers – “In the Pines” and “My Baby’s Gone”
Ira and Charlie Louvin were from Henegar, Alabama, on Sand Mountain, a place where they developed their high-lonesome, close harmonies, a sound that influenced a number of acts to come (like The Everly Brothers and Gram Parsons). When I was writing the novel, “In the Pines” popped into my head and has become the de facto official anthem for Beneath a Fallen Sky. The Louvin Brothers have one of the great album covers of all time. The art on Satan is Real features a giant plywood devil and piles of burning, smoldering tires. Google it. (Also, I’m distantly related to the Louvins, but I can’t sing a lick.)
United Sacred Harp Musical Association – “Canaan’s Land”
If you’ve never heard Sacred Harp (or shaped note) singing, the sound of it will more than likely pin your ears back. Each summer, when my family gathers for its family reunion on Sand Mountain, the entire day is spent singing Sacred Harp hymns. This vocal tradition stretches back to the late 1700s and is alive today in small churches, like the ones scattered across Sand Mountain. When you listen to the acapella harmonies of Sacred Harp, you can hear where the Louvin Brothers found their inspiration.
Alabama – “Mountain Music”
Much of the story in Beneath a Fallen Sky takes place in the town of Fort Payne, Alabama, which happens to be the home of the band, Alabama, one of the best-selling country music groups of all time. I mean, they had 21 straight #1 singles on the country chart and sold more than 73 million albums. (For ten bucks, you can visit the Alabama Fan Club and Museum on Glenn Boulevard in Fort Payne.) In 2005, Alabama was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
The Delmore Brothers – “Sweet Sweet Thing”
Alton and Rabon Delmore, from Elkmont, Alabama, were Grand Ole Opry stars in the 1930s, and along with musicians like the Louvin Brothers, Bill Monroe, the Stanley Brothers and Arthur Smith, are considered early pioneers of country music.
Hank Williams – “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”
About an hour and a half south of Fort Payne, just north of Birmingham, sits Mount Olive, the birthplace of Hank Williams. Williams’ legend is so large and looming, it’s hard to fathom that he died at the age of 29. In the midst of writing Beneath a Fallen Sky, I stumbled back into Hank Williams’ 40 Greatest Hits album. A line from this song struck me as pretty apt for the novel: “I’ve never seen a night so long/When time goes crawling by…”
Mister Ragman – “Halley’s Comet Rag”
In 1910, as Halley’s Comet bore down on the planet, rag time music was still a popular genre throughout the country. The excitement and anxiety about the comet’s arrival inspired Tin Pan Alley songwriters, and Harry J. Lincoln’s piano instrumental was one of the most popular tunes. (In the novel, one of my characters orders the sheet music for “Comet Rag” and plays the tune at a crucial moment in her narrative.)
Emmylou Harris – “When Halley Came to Jackson”
You’ll have to work at connecting the dots here. In 1910, Halley’s Comet flashed by Earth. Mark Twain was born in 1835, when Halley’s Comet appeared; he died in 1910, when it appeared again. In 2011, a double-CD called Mark Twain: Words and Music, was produced as a benefit for the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum. On this CD, Emmylou Harris performs a Mary Chapin Carpenter song entitled, “When Halley Came to Jackson” (in 1910.) Emmylou is from Birmingham, Alabama. Beneath a Fallen Sky takes place in Alabama. In 1910. When the comet is coming. There, see? It all sort of clicks together.
Shannon McNally – “Pale Moon”
This song, from McNally’s killer 2005 album Geronimo, has absolutely nothing to do with comets or Alabama or Mark Twain. But for some reason, I listened to it over and over while I was writing the novel, especially the sections that take place atop Sand Mountain. And I can’t tell you why. Maybe it’s something in the rhythms or the delivery or the instrumentation. All I can say is that “Pale Moon” found its way into the story and took hold.
The Red Clay Strays – “Demons in Your Choir”
If you write about the South and the Appalachians, you’re going to find yourself writing about religion at some point. It’s as unavoidable as breathing. And in 1910, with a comet on the way, religion becomes a balm and an escape route. In Beneath a Fallen Sky, religion materializes as an unofficial female minister who concocts fake Bible verses and baptizes folks for a quarter a head to save them from the impending apocalypse. And as a snake-handling preacher testifying in a sweaty tent revival on Sand Mountain. While not a traditional gospel tune, this song by The Red Clay Strays (from Mobile) feels like it sprang from the religious fervor I imagined filling the air in the spring of 1910 in northeast Alabama.
Lamont Landers – “The World Is Burning”
It’s 1910, and a comet is supposed to collide with the planet. Lamont Landers, from Decatur, Alabama, sings “the world is gonna burn up in flames tonight.” Then again…it might not.
also at Largehearted Boy:
Scott Gould’s Book Notes music playlist for his novel Peace Like a River
Scott Gould’s playlist for his story collection Idiot Men
Scott Gould’s playlist for his story collection Strangers to Temptation
Scott Gould is the author of six books, including The Hammerhead Chronicles, winner of the Eric Hoffer Award for Fiction, and Things That Crash, Things That Fly, which won a 2022 Memoir Prize for Books. His latest book is the novel, Peace Like a River (August, 2025). Gould’s other honors include a Next Generation Indie Book Award, an IPPY Award for Fiction, the Larry Brown Short Story Award and the S.C. Arts Commission Artist Fellowship in Prose. His work has appeared in a number of publications, including Kenyon Review, Black Warrior Review, Pangyrus, Crazyhorse, Pithead Chapel, Garden & Gun, and New Stories from the South, among others. He lives in Sans Souci, South Carolina.