Robert Deeble releases a new album, including his "Carter Family" tribute song

It was a little over 12 years ago that the "Carter Family" graphic novel, co-authored by Frank M. Young and me, made its debut. And then in 2015, we were honored to have The Bushwick Book Club (Seattle) commission three songwriters to create new songs inspired by the book. Years later, one of those songwriters, Robert Deeble, is releasing a beautifully produced version of his contribution, "Orphan Song," on his new album. Hearing it gives me chills. It's a continued honor to know that the book that Frank and I co-authored has inspired such a song. Hats off to Robert Deeble!

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2049398438913944&rdid=zkAM8BaWToGC2e92 

Robert has launched a Kickstarter campaign for his new album. If you're interested, this is the link.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/505565390/robert-deeble-a-new-album-the-space-between-us?

Back in 2019, he released a more stripped down version of the song as a single. I drew this image to go with that release:

I dug up the flyer for the Bushwick Book Club event back in 2015:

It was a great night - I will always feel honored that three great songwriters made three great songs inspired by "Carter Family: Don't Forget This Song." 

-David

What Makes The Old Songs Old?

A few years ago, singer-songwriter Wes Weddell, as part of a Bushwick Book Club event, wrote a beautiful song inspired by our book "The Carter Family: Don't Forget This Song". It was called "What Makes The Old Songs Old?" and this year it was officially released on Wes's album "Somewhere in the Middle."

Give it a listen on Wes's web page.  And if you like it, please order Wes's album.

You can also find Wes on Bandcamp.

Ken Burns' "Country Music" highlights the Carter Family

I caught the first episode of "Country Music", the new epic documentary by Ken Burns, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The Carter Family was prominently highlighted, as well as Leslie Riddle. It was gratifying to see some of the historic moments that I'd drawn in the Carter Family graphic novel chronicled in the Burns style with old photos, voiceovers, interviews, and of course: music.

Positive reviews are appearing, and for anyone who missed it, I believe the episode can be viewed online here.

-David Lasky


#CarterFamily
#CountryMusic
#KenBurns

Maybelle Carter Honored on NPR

It's exciting to see a whole series of articles on NPR's website honoring Maybelle Carter as one of "8 Women Who Invented American Popular Music."

Something cool in Sacramento

It's a Johnny Cash mural by artist Shepard Fairey! Looks great.
It recently received some recognition. 

Spotted in Olympia

George Lawson spotted "The Carter Family: Don't Forget This Song" in a store in Olympia, WA. How nice to see it in the company of so many cool graphic novels. Thanks for the photo, George!

Windows to the Past: David Lasky talks about the making of "Carter Family: Don't Forget This Song"

David Lasky, co-author of "Carter Family: Don't Forget This Song," will talk about the making of the book, as well as the making of "Oregon Trail: Road to Destiny," on April 11, 2018 on the campus of SPU in Seattle. The event goes from 7 to 9pm. There is a charge of $15 for non-members to attend. More info here.

Frank Young on Frank King

When Frank and I decided on the visual look of "Carter Family: Don't Forget This Song", the classic comic strip "Gasoline Alley" by Frank King was a major visual touchstone for us.

Frank has recently reviewed a lavish new book of Frank King's early work, pre-Gasoline-Alley. You can read the review here.

To Laugh That We May Not Weep

Frank Young's newest book, co-authored with Glenn Bray, is a gorgeous coffee table art book on illustrator and cartoonist Art Young (no relation), who produced many, many cartoons in the early 20th century, political and non-political, but has remained largely unknown in our time. Until now.

Michael Tisserand (who wrote the definitive biography of Krazy Kat cartoonist George Herriman) has reviewed the book, "To Laugh That We May Not Weep", for the Chicago Tribune. Read the review here, then go out and purchase the book as a gift for the cartoon lover in your life (or for yourself)!

Leslie Riddle Honored

Leslie Riddle, who taught the Carter Family some of their best songs, has been honored in Burnsville, NC with a historical highway marker. Details here. (with thanks to Ron McConnell for the info!)

Also worth noting: Burnsville hosts an annual RiddleFest! I hope to attend one of these times...

My Aunt Karen found a copy of the Spanish edition on a recent trip to Spain!

Thanks for the photo, Chris and Karen!

La Familia Carter -- Our graphic novel is now available in a Spanish language edition!

My high school Spanish teacher, Sra. Pettigrew, recently took this photo in a "large and classy bookstore" in Barcelona. I'm thrilled to see our book available in Spain.

Frank and I have been excited by the fact that our graphic novel of the Carter Family's story has been translated into Spanish. It's all thanks to Madrid publisher Impedimenta, who has done an excellent job, even designing a great new cover!
Here is the publisher's page for this edition.

¡Qué bueno!

Alicia Keys reworks a Carter Family classic

I'm listening to Alicia Key's "Here" album and got a great surprise when the song "Pawn it All" came on. She has reworked the Carter Family's "Gold Watch and Chain" into something that is all her own. The Carter Family's song, recorded in 1933, was a reworking of the 1879 Thomas P. Westendorf song, "Is There No Kiss for Me Tonight, Love."

"Fools Like Me:" Frank Young's novel of country music and forbidden love

Frank M. Young, who is in recovery from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, has used his time of enforced rest to bring into publication a country music-themed novel he wrote in the 1990s, with some later editing.

Fools Like Me tells the story of two high-school graduates living in a small town in Georgia who try to break into the country-western field, but find intense personal complications instead.

You can browse amazon.com's "Look Inside this Book" feature by clicking on the book title above, which takes you right to the website's page for this title.

Portions of this book are definitely on the adult side, so reader discretion is advised. If you're interested in seeing some of Young's prose, this is one of three novels he has out at present. Peruse his author profile to see the other titles. Thanks for your consideration!

The Comics Reporter Interview, Oct 2012

For any readers who may have missed this in 2012, I'm happy to re-present our interview with Tom Spurgeon of The Comics Reporter:
http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/resources/interviews/41379/

Listen to Amanda Sue Winterhalter

In November of last year, The Bushwick Book Club of Seattle performed songs inspired by "The Carter Family: Don't Forget This Song." It was a wonderful one time event. The highlight, for me, was Amanda Sue Winterhalter's "Sugar Water." The song describes the travails of Sara Carter, with references to the tree that A.P. planted, and was sung in an acapella  mountain style reminsicent of Sara Carter's. The performance and the song gave me chills!

Now you can hear the song too. It's the final track on Amanda Sue's debut album, OLEA, and you can hear it (and order it if you like it) on the bandcamp website. See if "Sugar Water" doesn't give you chills as well!

PASTE!

It's so nice to see "Carter Family: Don't Forget This Song" in such good company on Paste Magazine's list of Five Great Musical Biographies as Graphic Novels. 

Little Anita Carter's Acrobatics

It's been written that when Life Magazine photographer Eric Schaal visited the Carters in Maces Spring in 1941, the girls did cartwheels and handstands to show off for him. Frank and I depicted it briefly in our graphic novel, "The Carter Family: Don't Forget This Song." But until now, I didn't think Schaal had taken any photos of the girls. I thought I'd seen all of his shots, via Life Magazine's online photo archive.

Well, imagine my surprise today when web searching for photos from the shoot, and there is Anita Carter (credited as June, but I think it's Anita) doing a handstand! There were two others featuring her acrobatics. All featured in a gallery with a TIME article on the Carter Family from last year. What a fun surprise!

And here is how we depicted the moment in our graphic novel...

Rest in peace, Dr. Ralph Stanley

In June, the world lost one of its great musicians and singers, Ralph Stanley. To honor his memory, I've chosen his haunting rendition of the Carters' "Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone."

Dr. Stanley, yes, me are missing you.

"Winding Stream" now streaming and on DVD!

I heard from Beth Harrington today that her film "The Winding Stream: The Carters, The Cashes, and the Course of Country Music" is NOW available for streaming and on DVD!!!  If you're a Carter Family fan, or simply someone who enjoyed our graphic novel "The Carter Family: Don't Forget This Song", I can tell you that you'll love this movie!  And now everyone with access to the Internet has a chance to see this movie...

Here is Beth's announcement:

NOW AVAILABLE! THE WINDING STREAM! Dear Friends – The wait is over! The Winding Stream – The Carters, the Cashes and the Course of Country Music is available today! Our award-winning, critically-lauded, audience-beloved film about the foundational family at the heart of Americana music is finally out! It’s available for download on iTunes or on DVD through Amazon.com or wherever DVDs are sold! As you might imagine, we’re incredibly excited. For those of you who have not yet seen the film at festivals or in your local theater, we sincerely hope you enjoy the film. We are grateful for how supportive and patient you’ve been. As of today, also note that you can get the DVD, companion book and soundtrack CD on The Winding Stream website as a bundle (or separately). Hope you’ll also spread the word about this new development to your music-loving friends! Thanks, Beth and The Winding Stream Team * * * * * More praise for The Winding Stream  “Wonderful interviews, transcendent music, a heartfelt emotional story…among the greatest of all music documentaries, an instant American classic.” - Gerald Peary, The Arts Fuse “…a real crowd-pleaser about American roots music royalty…” - Loren King, The Boston Globe “…a gift to anyone interested in our musical roots…” - Michael Mechanic, Mother Jones “…extremely enchanting…” - Richard Thompson, Bluegrass Today “…a pure delight” - Volkmar Richter, Vancouver Observer “… a marvelous, meandering journey through American musical history that you will never forget.” - Larry Carlin, California Bluegrass Association News