"Band People is, in the author's words, "an exploration of the lives and work of the character actors of popular music." We're talking about "secret (and no-so-secret) weapons, side-of-the-stagers, hired guns, prolific joiners and members of bands, rhythm and horn sections, backup singers, accompanists, and composers--musicians not primarily known as frontpeople." As a band member himself, Nicolay is grounded in this world and he has used his network to develop a broad foundation of interviews that inform the narrative. The overall approach is indeed more ethnography than theory, though there are a lot of interesting ideas being considered in some depth (and a few sociological theorists mentioned in an unintimidating way)"-- Provided by publisher.