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You may think you know how every band created their names but do you know what connects 200 bands from 2 Live Crew to ZZ Top?

For starters, each is profiled in Valdostans Mary Ann Heddon and Rick Griffis’ fun book, “Culture Code: The Music Vol. 1.” But there are also clues that connect one band to the next all the way through the book. Whoever is first to solve that riddle will win $5,000.

Wanting to create a book on band origins, the authors realized that people could easily find that information on the Internet. So, Heddon and Griffis created a contest to accompany the book.

Still, they enjoyed researching the rock and pop stars who fill “Culture Code’s” pages.

“One of the surprising revelations in writing this book was the insight it provided into ‘living like a rock star,’” Griffis says. “Our culture uses that phrase in a manner that makes it sound like something to be desired. In reality, there are very common themes among bands about such issues as long-term struggles to be successful; substance abuse; failed relationships; financial abuse by their business partners, etc. On the other hand, it was pleasantly surprising to find out how successful and accomplished some of these artists were outside of the sphere of music — physicians, attorneys, professors, Academy Award nominees, Ph.D.s in astrophysics, etc.”

Heddon says the book will hopefully help some musicians facing troubles. Ten percent of the profits will be donated to MusiCares, an organization that helps musicians in need.

“One of the realizations we came to in writing the book was how many musicians, including some very big names, ended up with very little to show for their success,” Heddon says. “Sometimes it resulted from their own bad choices, but sometimes it was because their manager or record label took the lion’s share of profits and left the musician high and dry. It’s not an industry with a lot of security.”

Heddon is a registered nurse who works as a clinical trials coordinator at South Georgia Medical Center’s Pearlman Cancer Center. Griffis is the administrative director of pulmonary services at SGMC.

In “Culture Code,” they are joined by Jenna Ramer who provides illustrations of Bob Dylan, Freddie Mercury, Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Springsteen, etc.

The Times conducted an email interview with Heddon and Griffis.

THE TIMES: “Culture Code” is not only a book about music groups but a game. How did you come upon the idea for including a contest within a book?

HEDDON: “When I started doing research for the book, I noticed a lot of commonalities between bands. Some were odd links, like the band’s name coming from a speech by Churchill. Some were more common threads, like playing at a particular venue or appearing on the same compilation album. So I wondered if I could find enough links to connect all 200 bands and turn the book into a puzzle. It was definitely a challenge to tie every band to another band in a linear fashion, but there are actually a lot of network-type connections in the music industry that made it possible.”

 

THE TIMES: How do you explain the nature of the game/contest aspect of “Culture Code” within a few sentences?

HEDDON: “Think of six degrees of separation. Because of the number of bands featured in the book, it’s more like 200 degrees of separation that connect the first band to the last. We’ll give you clues on the website, which you’ll use to connect all 200 bands. All the answers to the clues are in the book. Each band entry contains the answer to at least two clues. The first person to solve the code will win $5,000.”

THE TIMES: How do people present their answers and register to win the prize?

HEDDON: “When the last clue is posted on the website, you can send us your solution, either by regular mail or email. We have more detailed instructions and an example of the format the solution must be in on the website. Clues are being released weekly through (probably) most of September 2012. Submissions are reviewed in the order they’re received, so obviously, an email submission results in a more timely review. As soon as we receive a correct solution, we’ll announce we have a winner on the website.”

THE TIMES: How did the two of you decide to write a book about music groups?

GRIFFIS: “Mary Ann and I worked together years ago as an on-call Hyperbaric Medicine team. We spent a lot of time together on weekends and we both share an interest in trivia and puzzles. One recurring theme in our conversations was, ‘I wonder how that band got their name?” That led to the suggestion that we write a book. We began collecting information and finally committed to writing a book, but by then decided that most of that information was readily available on the Internet. Mary Ann came up with the idea of creating an embedded puzzle within a trivia book.”

THE TIMES: How did you choose the groups in this book? By the way, it seemed wise to mention in the introduction that the Beatles and the Stones would be used in a possible sequel.

HEDDON: “We started by individually making a list of what we thought were the most important bands in the last 50 years. We merged our lists and added a few more, to come up with about 500 bands that sold the most records, had the most hits, were pioneers in a certain genre of music, or otherwise distinguished themselves. Then we created an answer key that tied 400 of the bands together and split it into two volumes.”

THE TIMES: Speaking of sequels, you mention that the “Culture Code” could work in volumes on movies, TV shows, etc., would a second volume be a Music Vol. 2, or would it feature one of these other forms of entertainment?

HEDDON: “The second volume will finish up the music groups, then we’ll move on to movies.”

 

THE TIMES: Where can people find the book? Do you have any book events planned locally?

HEDDON: “The book is for sale on the website (www.culturecodeonline.com). We did the Scott James Show Friday morning and may do a book signing or other event in the next few months. We have a book review coming out in ‘music connection,’ an online and print trade magazine in book stores and music stores across the country, which will put us in front of readership, online and print of 70,000 subscribers.”