Charles Cross is a music journalist and the author of several acclaimed biographies, including Room Full of Mirrors: A Biography of Jimi Hendrix and Cobain Unseen . He was editor of the Rocket in Seattle for fifteen years during the height of the Seattle music scene. His 2001 biography of Kurt Cobain, titled Heavier Than Heaven , was awarded the 2002 ASCAP Award for Outstanding Biography. Gillian G. Gaar has written thirteen books, including The Doors: The Illustrated History , She's A Rebel: The History of Women in Rock & Roll , Entertain Us: The Rise of Nirvana , and Return of the King: Elvis Presley's Great Comeback . She was a contributor to Voyageur Press' Nirvana: The Complete Illustrated History and has also written for numerous publications, including Mojo , Rolling Stone , and Goldmine . She lives and writes in Seattle. Bob Gendron (Chicago, IL) is a frequent contributor to the Chicago Tribune and Down Beat.

Mark Yarm is the author of Everybody Loves Our Town: The Oral History of Grunge. Todd Martens (Los Angeles, CA) is the pop music critic for the Los Angeles Times. Andrew Earles is a writer and humorist based in Memphis, Tennessee. His work has appeared in several media outlets, including Spin , The Onion , Pitchfork , McSweeney's , Harp , Paste , Magnet , and Alternative Press . Andrew lives in Memphis, Tennessee. Greg Kot has been the Chicago Tribune's rock music critic since 1990. He co-hosts the nationally syndicated rock 'n' roll talk show Sound Opinions (soundopinions.org) on public radio and is the author of Wilco: Learning How to Die and Ripped: The Digital Music Revolution.

Jim DeRogatis is the pop music critic at the Chicago Sun-Times, co-host of Sound Opinions, and the author of several books about music and culture, including Velvet Underground (Voyageur Press) and Let It Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs . Alan di Perna is a freelance journalist, a frequent contributor to Guitar World magazine, and the Author of Green Day: The Ultimate Unauthorized History (Voyageur Press). He lives in Arizona.