Mike Barnes is a music journalist - writing for The Wire, Prog, MOJO, Hi-Fi News and others - and a drummer and author. His first book was Captain Beefheart, a widely acclaimed critical biography of the great musical maverick, which was published in 2000. Mike swore to never put himself through all that again, but 2020 sees the publication of A New Day Yesterday: UK Progressive Rock And The 1970s. This 600-page account of the birth and heyday of progressive rock is based on over 100 original interviews with musicians, journalists, record industry insiders and the testimonies of fans and is the product of five years' work. The author also examines the cultural conditions and attitudes that fed into, and were in turn affected by, this remarkable phenomenon. Mike swears that will never put himself through all that again.
