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.