Rosanne Cash’s ‘The List’ Inspires New Book

Rosanne Cash has spoken extensively about why she recorded her latest album 'The List' -- including in an exclusive interview with The Boot. And now a book chronicling the making of the album and providing an overview of the singer's career has become available.

'Always Been There: Rosanne Cash, The List, and the Spirit of Southern Music' was penned by Michael Streissguth, who has also written several books and documentaries on Rosanne's late father, Johnny Cash. Because she respected him, the songwriter and author allowed Streissguth to spend time with her while she was recording 'The List.'

Streissguth had also conducted several interviews with Rosanne, so the combination of various events that brought the two of them together allows him to paint a behind-the-scenes picture of the creative side of the album, as well as Rosanne's more intimate thoughts about her father and the list of 100 songs he gave her when she was 18. From that list she pulled the dozen songs included on the album, and the author uses some of those songs and others of a similar vein as titles for the chapters in the book.

"He's a wonderful writer ... It's a really compelling idea (for a book) and the spirit of The List kinda took over," Rosanne tells The 9513.

Streissguth spent time in the studio with Rosanne and husband/producer Jon Leventhal and accompanied them as they traveled around Europe during the recording of the album. He also was allowed access to some of the pre-production meetings and discussions as to how the singer would approach recording songs like 'Girl from the North Country,' 'Motherless Children,' 'I'm Movin' On' and '500 Miles.'

'Always Been There: Rosanne Cash, The List, and the Spirit of Southern Music' is published by Da Capo Press.