Jason Howard's A FEW HONEST WORDS Profiles Kentucky Musicians

In industry circles, musicians from Kentucky are known to possess an enviable pedigree-a lineage as prized as the bloodline of any bluegrass-raised Thoroughbred. With native sons and daughters like Naomi and Wynonna Judd, Loretta Lynn, the Everly Brothers, Joan Osborne, and Merle Travis, it's no wonder that the state is most often associated with folk, country, and bluegrass music.

But Kentucky's contribution to American music is much broader: It's the rich and resonant cello of Ben Sollee, the velvet crooning of jazz great Helen Humes, and the famed vibraphone of Lionel Hampton. It's exemplified by hip-hop artists like the Nappy Roots and indie folk rockers like the Watson Twins. It goes beyond the hallowed mandolin of Bill Monroe and banjo of the Osborne Brothers to encompass the genres of blues, jazz, rock, gospel, and hip-hop.

A FEW HONEST WORDS explores how Kentucky's landscape, culture, and traditions have influenced notable contemporary musicians. Featuring intimate interviews with household names (Naomi Judd, Joan Osborne, and Dwight Yoakam), emerging artists, and local musicians, author Jason Howard's rich and detailed profiles reveal the importance of the state and the Appalachian region to the creation and performance of music in America.

Jason Howard is coauthor of Something's Rising: Appalachians Fighting Mountaintop Removal. His work has been featured in the New York Times, the Nation, Sojourners, Paste, the Louisville Review, Equal Justice Magazine, and on NPR.

"An important contribution to the wider conversation about what qualifies as contemporary American roots music and what it means for music to communicate a sense of place in our profoundly uprooted time."-Jewly Hight, author of Right by Her Roots: Americana Women and Their Songs

"A thoughtful and important book. It's tremendously satisfying that specific areas of the South are receiving their due attention. Kentucky has given so much to the landscape of American music."--Rosanne Cash

"By shining a light on an inclusive array of homegrown performing artists--some well known, some destined to be, all of whom are following in the footsteps of Bill Monroe, Lionel Hampton, the Everly Brothers and Loretta Lynn--Jason Howard has crafted a loving and thoughtful homage to his beloved state of Kentucky, giving us pitch perfect journalistic prose from the heart of the country."--Rodney Crowell

"Jason Howard has gathered up all those sweet Kentucky sounds and brought them home to a reunion. His Few Honest Words is like a country-folk music festival in prose."--Michael Streissguth, author of Johnny Cash: The Biography

"Kentucky inspired Stephen Foster, America's first professional songwriter, and gave birth to Bill Monroe, Lionel Hampton, Rosemary Clooney and scores of headlining artists in every genre of music. Jason Howard's A Few Honest Words illustrates Kentucky's harvest of gifted musicians continues well into the era of hip-hop, jam bands and all your various indies and alts. Howard's knowledge and love of music brighten the narrative as these wonderful artists tell their stories."--Bob Edwards, host of The Bob Edwards Show and Bob Edwards Weekend on Sirius XM radio, and author of A Voice in the Box: My Life in Radio

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