The Untold History of American Rock Criticism tells an alternate story of American rock criticism and journalism centering non-white and female writers with a mix of archival research and first-hand interviews.

When most people envision an American rock music critic-particularly one from the early era: 1964-1980-they imagine someone white and male (and straight). And, certainly, the writers at the forefront of the new rock critical establishment were, at least initially, white men. But there were also Black, Indigenous, and other writers of color, as well as women from all backgrounds, writing for teen magazines, Black and brown newspapers, regional dailies and weeklies, and corporate rock publications. These writers contributed groundbreaking works to mainstream rock music magazines such as Rolling Stone, Creem, Hit Parader, and Trouser Press, as well as underground music magazines and zines such as Cheetah, Mojo-Navigator Rock and Roll News, Rock Scene, and Punk.

The Untold History highlights groundbreaking writers such as Cynthia Dagnal-Myron, Carman Moore, Ellen Sander, Vernon Gibbs, and Jaan Uhelszki, who reflect on their own work, the outlets in which they published, and the rock scene in which they worked-giving important voices from diverse backgrounds an opportunity to speak, gathered together for the first time.