Rodney Crowell

For years the legendary John Seigenthaler hosted A Word on Words on Nashville's public television station, WNPT. During the show’s four-decade run (1972 to 2013), he interviewed some of the most interesting and most impor­tant writers of our time. These in-depth exchanges revealed much about the writers who appeared on his show and gave a glimpse into their creative pro­cesses. Seigenthaler was a deeply engaged reader and a generous interviewer, a true craftsman. Frye Gaillard and Pat Toomay have collected and transcribed some of the iconic interactions from the show. Featuring interviews with: Arna Bontemps • Marshall Chapman • Pat Conroy • Rodney Crowell • John Egerton • Jesse Hill Ford • Charles Fountain • William Price Fox • Kinky Friedman • Frye Gaillard • Nikki Giovanni • Doris Kearns Goodwin • David Halberstam • Waylon Jennings • John Lewis • David Maraniss • William Marshall • Jon Meacham • Ann Patchett • Alice Randall • Dori Sanders • John Seigenthaler Sr. • Marty Stuart • Pat Toomay

From growing up in Texas, to living in his car, to landing his first publishing deal, to writing fifteen #1 songs, Word for Word is a lavishly illustrated look at the lyrics of an icon among songwriting giants. Emmylou Harris—who once employed Rodney Crowell as the guitarist, harmony singer, and arranger in her Hot Band—introduced many listeners to his finely-crafted songs, including “Til I Gain Control Again,” “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight,” “I Ain’t Living Long Like This,” “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues,” and “Ashes by Now.” They all went on to be become hits for other performers, while Crowell went on to carve out a career as the first country singer to earn five #1 singles from one album. Rodney continued writing and recording classics, while other artists continued to take his songs to the top of the charts, including Bob Seger’s recording of “Shame on the Moon,” Tim McGraw’s recording of “Please Remember Me,” and Keith Urban’s cover of “Making Memories of Us.” In this disarmingly intimate look at Crowell’s songs, he shares pages from his lyric notebooks, personal photographs, and scribbles that reveal the heart of one of this generation’s finest songwriters.