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Award winning songwriter, musician, author, playwright, poet, visual artist, and Appalachian Renaissance man Billy Edd Wheeler is best known for penning "Jackson," which was popularized by Johnny Cash and June Carter with their Grammy-winning recording from 1967. In addition to his own albums and singles as a highly regarded singer/songwriter (including the Top 5 hit, "Ode to the Little Brown Shack Out Back"), Billy Edd has penned numerous songs for artists such as Elvis Presley, Judy Collins, The Kingston Trio, Neil Young, and Kenny Rogers. Wheeler's memoir is populated by a fascinating cast of characters which he encountered on his journey. Songwriting changed his life, bringing him a long lasting career that saw the birth of classic tunes such as "The Reverend Mr. Black," "High Flyin' Bird," "The Coming of the Roads," "It's Midnight," "Coal Tattoo," and others. Peppered with the folksy wisdom of his beloved Appalachia, Hotter Than a Pepper Sprout is like pulling a chair up next to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Famer by a warm fire; you won't want to leave.
A DELIGHTFUL COLLECTION OF YARNS TOLD SIMPLY AND ELOQUENTLY BY MOUNTAIN FOLKS FOR WHOM HUMOR IS A WAY OF LIFE.
In 1934, the people of Inishmaan learn that the Hollywood director Robert Flaherty is coming to the neighbouring island to film his documentary Man of Aran. No one is more excited than Billy, an unloved and crippled boy whose chief occupation has been gazing at cows and yearning for a girl who wants no part of him. For Billy is determined to cross the sea and audition for the Yank. As news of his audacity ripples through his rumour-starved community, The Cripple of Inishmaan becomes a merciless portrayal of a world so comically cramped and mean-spirited that hope is an affront to its order. With this bleak yet uproariously funny play, Martin McDonagh fulfilled the promise of his award-winning The Beauty Queen of Leenane while confirming his place in a tradition that extends from Synge to O'Casey and Brendan Behan.
Mickey Newbury (1940-2002) grew up in Houston and moved to Nashville in the early 1960s, following his muse. He wrote top hits for many well-known artists, including Don Gibson, Andy Williams, Kenny Rogers, Tom Jones, and others. He is probably best known, however, for being name-checked in the song "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)" by Waylon Jennings. Newbury has been cited by Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Townes Van Zandt, and many other eminent singer-songwriters as a primary influence. In his own independent fashion, Newbury helped to loosen the grip maintained for decades by the Nashville studio system, thus paving the way for later innovators like Willie Nelson, David Al...
"Eight compelling monologues offering a state-of-the-nation group portrait for the stage. From Millie, the jolly-hockey-sticks prostitute who mourns the loss of the good old British class system, to Miles, a 7/7 survivor, and Danny, an ex-squaddie who makes friends in morgues, Eight looks at what has happened to a generation that has grown up in a world where everything has become acceptable." --Book Jacket.
For the first time, legendary performer Roy Orbison's story as one of the most beloved rock legends will be revealed through family accounts and records. Roy Orbison is a rock and roll icon almost without peer. He came of age as an artist on the venerable Sun Records label; toured with The Beatles; had massive hits in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s; invented the black-clad, sunglasses-wearing image of the rock star; and reinvented the art of songwriting many times over. He is a member of the Rock & Roll and Songwriters Halls of Fame, a recipient of the Musicians Hall of Fame's inaugural Iconic Riff Award, and the winner of multiple GRAMMY® awards. He is known the world over for hits like "Blue...
Bluegrass has found an unlikely home, and avid following, in the Czech Republic. The music’s emergence in Central Europe places it within an increasingly global network of communities built around bluegrass activities. Lee Bidgood offers a fascinating study of the Czech bluegrass phenomenon that merges intimate immersion in the music with on-the-ground fieldwork informed by his life as a working musician. Drawing on his own close personal and professional interactions, Bidgood charts how Czech bluegrass put down roots and looks at its performance as a uniquely Czech musical practice. He also reflects on “Americanist” musical projects and the ways Czech musicians use them to construct personal and social identities. Bidgood sees these acts of construction as a response to the Czech Republic’s postsocialist environment but also to US cultural prominence within our global mediascape.
To mark the fiftieth anniversary of the recording of their classic Odessey and Oracle album, The Zombies have assembled an eclectic collection of rare and unseen photos, original artwork, and personal memories that offer readers an intimate snapshot of one of the more influential bands to emerge from the UK music scene of the 1960s. The lavishly illustrated book includes handwritten lyrics for 22 songs. Contributions from Paul Weller, Brian Wilson and Carlos Santana, among many others.
The debut book by artist and writer PJ Harvey, in collaboration with film-maker and photographer Seamus Murphy, emerges as a one-of-a-kind collection of poetry and images
Gathers humorous anecdotes from rural and small-town America about religion, doctors, lawyers, school, politics, farming, and alcohol.