Rodney Crowell to Release Memoir, ‘Chinaberry Sidewalks’

After telling stories of love lost, love gained and love cherished, singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell has set aside his guitar -- for a brief time -- to pen his own memoir, 'Chinaberry Sidewallks.' The book depicts his complex family and relationships, including those of his parents and his role as Johnny Cash's son-in-law, as well as the ups and downs he has undergone throughout the years and the "redemption he found through love."

A limited number of signed hard cover copies of 'Chinaberry Sidewalks' are now available for purchase exclusively at RodneyCrowell.com, as well as an exclusive digital download of 'Rodney Crowell: Acoustic Trio Live,' a thirteen-track album recorded during Rodney's recent trio tour with Will Kimbrough and Jenny Scheinman.

Writing songs and a complete book are two completely different things, so what made this Grammy-winning artist pen his memoir? "I needed a new canvas to paint on, for one thing," explains Rodney. "And it just occurred to me that someday I'm going to be 80-years-old and I'm not going to be quite nimble enough to get myself around on stage and I wanted to learn to paint on a different canvass so I would never stop working as an artist."

The Texas native found it intoxicating to write more than three-to-four minutes in a song to an entire book. "Having written songs for so long, I find myself drunk on how many words I can use to get across what I had always been looking for that real succinct way to say in a song, so I had to sober up. [laughs] I was drunk on words."

'Chinaberry Sidewalks,' which is named after the three Chinaberry trees a young Rodney and his mother planted near the sidewalk at their East Texas home, arrives on bookstore shelves and online on January 18.

'Rodney Crowell: Acoustic Trio Live' track list:

1. 'The Rise and Fall of Intelligent Design'

2. 'Moving Work of Art'

3. 'Glasgow Girl'

4. 'Dancin' Circles Round the Sun (Epictetus Speaks)'

5. 'Funky and the Farm-Boy'

6. 'Telephone Road'

7. 'Til I Gain Control Again'

8. 'Earthbound'

9. 'Wandering Boy'

10. 'Leaving Louisiana'

11. 'The Night's Just Right'