About the Book
The Los Angeles Times affectionately referred to Freddy Powers as the Ol' Blue Eyes of Country Music, and wrote that if you were to ask country superstars Willie Nelson, George Jones, or Merle Haggard (they'll) ... tell you that he's one of country music's best-kept secrets.
The Texas Country Music Hall of Fame inductee has been to the top of the charts as both a producer for Willie Nelson's Grammy-winning LP Over the Rainbow, and as a songwriter for many of country music legend Merle Haggard's number one hits.
Now, for the first time, Freddy recounts the entertaining and emotional stories behind his decades-long roller coaster ride through the music business; his voyage to the top of the charts, and his inspiring battle against Parkinson's disease. Helping Freddy tell his story are exclusive interviews from fellow country music legends Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, John Rich, Tanya Tucker, The Voice finalist and Powers' protege Mary Sarah, along with a host of other Nashville luminaries.
About the Author :
Freddy and Catherine Powers have been married for over twenty-five years, with Catherine managing Freddy's career as a prolific performer and Texas Country Music Hall of Fame songwriter, where he is most celebrated for cowriting numerous hits for Merle Haggard, including fan favorites like Let's Chase Each Other around the Room Tonight, I Always Get Lucky with You, Natural High, and A Place to Fall Apart. Freddy is the recipient of Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Nashville Songwriter's Association International, the Texas Music Academy, and the Texas Guitar Association, the CMA Triple Play Award, and the BMI #1 Song Award among other coveted distinctions and honors.
Freddy and Catherine Powers have been married for over twenty-five years, with Catherine managing Freddy's career as a prolific performer and Texas Country Music Hall of Fame songwriter, where he is most celebrated for co-writing numerous hits for Merle Haggard, including fan favorites like Let's Chase Each Other Around the Room Tonight, I Always Get Lucky With You, Natural High, and A Place to Fall Apart. Freddy is the recipient of Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Nashville Songwriter's Association International, the Texas Music Academy, and the Texas Guitar Association, the CMA Triple Play Award, and the BMI #1 Song Award among other coveted distinctions and honors.
Jake Brown is an award-winning Nashville based music biographer of over 40 books including authorized collaborations including Joe Satriani, Heart, Moorhead, 2Pac, and author of the trademarked In the Studio book series (Rick Rubin, ACDC), the Nashville Songwriter book series and others including Beyond the Beats, HIP HOP HITS and Behind the Boards.
Willie Nelson is one of the most popular, prolific, and influential songwriters and singers in the history of American music. A Kennedy Center honoree in 1998, he has been inducted into a number of music halls of fame and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. During the past six decades, he has recorded more than one hundred albums, appeared in several films, and written three New York Times bestsellers: Willie: An Autobiography, The Facts of Life: And Other Dirty Jokes, and Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die. Born in Abbott, Texas, in 1933, he now resides in Texas and Hawaii.
Andi Arndt is a professional voice actor, the winner of a 2017 Audie Award for Best Romance, and winner of two Earphones Awards.
Carrington MacDuffie is a voice actor and recording artist who has narrated over two hundred audiobooks, received numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards, and has been a frequent finalist for the Audie Award, including for her original audiobook, Many Things Invisible. Alongside her narration work, she has released a new album of original songs, Only an Angel.
Donald Corren is a stage, television, and voice actor whose work has been featured on and off Broadway, in regional theaters, behind animated characters, and on television for the past three decades. Trained in the theater division at Juilliard, he is also a writer whose credits include the original Martha Stewart Living television series and the medals ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Eric G. Dove is a multiple Earphones Award-winning narrator, and his credits include more than 100 audiobooks. He is also an accomplished musician and a budding author, who published Ghosts of Royston in 2013. He is a graduate of Ohio State University.
John McLain is an actor, professional voice talent, and Earphones Award-winning narrator. He has been a finalist for the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. On stage, he has appeared in The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Amahl & the Night Visitors, and The Music Man.
Rebecca Gibel (a.k.a. Kasha Kensington) is a audiobook narrator and stage actress who has performed in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Camelot (IRNE Award nomination), Urinetown (Denver Post Ovation Award nomination), and Othello. She won the Denver Post Readers' Choice Award for Best Year by an Actress. She is a graduate of the Brown University Trinity Rep MFA acting program, where she was the Stephen Sondheim Fellow.
L. J. Ganser is the winner of the prestigious Audie Award for Best Nonfiction Narration for his work in The Island at the Center of the World. He has recorded over 450 titles, ranging from preschool books to crime noir thrillers, from astronomical adventures in both science and science fiction, to Arctic Circle high-school basketball stories.
Marguerite Gavin is a seasoned theater veteran, a five-time nominee for the prestigious Audie Award, and the winner of numerous AudioFile Earphones and Publishers Weekly awards. She has been an actor, director, and audiobook narrator for her entire professional career. With over four hundred titles to her credit, her narration spans nearly every genre, from nonfiction to mystery, science fiction, fantasy, romance, and children's fiction. AudioFile magazine says, Marguerite Gavin...has a sonorous voice, rich and full of emotion.
Mark Bramhall has won the prestigious Audie Award for best narration, more than thirty AudioFile Earphones Awards, and has repeatedly been named by AudioFile magazine and Publishers Weekly among their Best Voices of the Year. He is also an award-winning actor whose acting credits include off-Broadway, regional, and many Los Angeles venues as well as television, animation, and feature films. He has taught and directed at the American Academy of Dramatic Art.
Renee Raudman is an actor and Earphones Award-winning audiobook narrator. She has performed on film, television, radio, and on stage and can also be heard in several video games and hundreds of television and radio voice-overs.
Lloyd James (a.k.a. Sean Pratt) has been narrating since 1996 and has recorded over six hundred audiobooks. He is a seven-time winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award and has twice been a finalist for the prestigious Audie Award. His critically acclaimed performances include Elvis in the Morning by William F. Buckley Jr. and Searching for Bobby Fischer by Fred Waitzkin, among others.
Traber Burns worked for thirty-five years in regional theater, including the New York, Oregon, and Alabama Shakespeare festivals. He also spent five years in Los Angeles appearing in many television productions and commercials, including Lost, Close to Home, Without a Trace, Boston Legal, Grey's Anatomy, Cold Case, Gilmore Girls, and others.
Coming soon...
Review :
A freewheeling, often poignant oral history of one of the unsung heroes of Country Music, told colorfully by Powers and a cast of familiar characters who knew and loved him best.
-- "Stephen L. Betts, Nashville music journalist, Rolling Stone Country"
Anybody that don't like Freddy Powers, I put 'em under immediate suspicion.
-- "Merle Haggard"
Freddy's strongest suit, I always thought, was his rhythm guitar playing. He was a great rhythm guitar player, and he wrote some great songs with and for Merle.
-- "Willie Nelson"
He's a great a writer, and I think he's one of the least-recognized of the great country songwriters, and doesn't really get his credit due.
-- "Tanya Tucker, award-winning country music singer"
In this candidly informative memoir, Freddy recounts first-hand the highly entertaining and emotionally touching story behind his decades-long roller-coaster ride through the music business, to the top of the charts, and his inspiring struggle in recent years battling Parkinson's disease, all while his legacy endured through generations of fans. An inherently compelling read from beginning to end.
-- "Midwest Book Review"
One of the most creatively rambunctious artists in the history of country music.
-- "Saving Country Music"
Powers' name stands alongside some of country music's most enduring classics.
-- "Austin Chronicle"
