A Guitar and a Pen: Stories by Country Music's Greatest Songwriters

by Robert Hicks (Editor), Justin Stelter (Editor), John Bohlinger (Editor)

Nothing tells a story better than the story-songs of country music. A Guitar and A Pen presents, for the first time, the literary work of some of the best storytellers in the world: the songwriters who cut and polish tales down to sparkling three-minute gems. A blend of humor and poignancy, these tales range from Kris Kristofferson's charming tale of how an explicit natural rock formation causes chaos in a small farming town, to the domestic drama of a Kentucky family with six daughters, to Charlie Daniels' character-driven fable of money and unhappiness, to Gary Nicholson's riveting tale of an albino African American singer/songwriter who inspired him to be a musician.

A celebration of music and storytelling, other contributors include Hal Ketchum, Janis Ian, Mark D. Sanders, Tom T. Hall, Marshall Chapman, and Robert Hicks, among many other notable Nashville luminaries.

The day Jimmy killed the rabbit / Tom T. Hall --
Career day / Robbie Fulks --
How I stayed a boy / Tia Sillers --
Whitey Johnson / Gary Nicholson --
Cybersong / Bobby Braddock --
Gathering together / Robert Hicks --
The point / Monty Powell --
Mr. Munch has a murmur / Mark D. Sanders --
Fork / John Hadley --
The box / Kevin Welch --
A rock / Kris Kristofferson --
The care and treatment of camp cooks / Bob McDill --
A big batch of biscuits / John Bohlinger --
Shiny, like new / Dony Wynn --
The clock struck nine / Hal Ketchum --
Of guitars & righteous men / Janis Ian --
The river / Tim Putnam --
Lucky boy / Klem Hayes --
Cheeseburger boogie / Bob DiPiero --
A burning bush will do / Marshall Chapman --
Born and raised in black and white / Don Cook --
He always knew who he was / Hazel Smith --
Curtis Loach / Charlie Daniels --
The elk hunters / Tim Johnson --
Will it ever happen again? / Michael Kosser

258 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Robert Hicks has been active in the music industry in Nashville for twenty years as both a music publisher and artist manager. The driving force behind the perservation and restoration of the historic Carnton plantation in Tennessee, he stumbled upon the extraordinary role that Carrie McGavock played during and after the Battle of Franklin. He is the author of The Widow of the South and A Separate Country.

Reviews

[Peter Tillman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chance purchase for $1 at library book sale. I may have overpayed. First story was acceptable, in a sappy, sentimental sense. Sort of like a mediocre country song. Second was worse, third was unreadable. OK, I found one good one: Janis Ian's story of her first guitar, an old Martin D-18 that was stolen, and she got it back some 25 yrs later! 3.5 stars for hers.

DNF and recycle. 1.5 stars, rounded up for the Janis Ian. Likely over-generous. My advice: don't bother, past the one good one.

[Danielle Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

I only read the Gathering Together story by Robert Hicks. I heard him speak at Girlfriend Weekend and I had to read the story about "eating his uncle". Lol!

[Patti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for the beach! Especially a beach in the South since that is the setting for most of the stories. The stories were fun to read and often pulled my heartstrings, as you would expect, and the bios of each author with their life stories and country hits were a great addition.