A ferocious talent on the brink of making it big in Nashville
must confront her small town past and an old love she’s never forgotten
must confront her small town past and an old love she’s never forgotten
THE WHOLE WAY HOME
Sarah Creech
Releasing June 6th, 2017
William Morrow
Playing to packed houses while her hit song rushes up the charts, country singer and fiddler Jo Lover is poised to become a big Nashville star like her idols, Loretta, Reba, and Sheryl. To ensure her success, Jo has carefully crafted her image: a pretty, sassy, down-to-earth girl from small-town Virginia who pours her heart into her songs.
But the stage persona she’s built is threatened when her independent label merges with big-time Capitol Records, bringing Nashville heartthrob JD McCoy—her first love—back into her life. Long ago Jo played with JD’s band. Then something went wrong, they parted ways and took their own crooked roads to stardom. Now, Jo’s excited—and terrified—to see him again.
When the label reunites them for a show, the old sparks fly, the duet they sing goes viral, and fans begin clamoring for more—igniting the media’s interest in the compelling singer. Why is a small-town girl like Jo so quiet about her past? When did she and JD first meet? What split them apart? All too soon, the painful secret she's been hiding is uncovered; a shocking revelation that threatens to destroy her reputation and her dreams. To salvage her life and her career, Jo must finally face the past—and her feelings for JD—to become the true Nashville diva she was meant to be.
JD Gunn stood up from his wooden pew in the Ryman and joined the
entire audience as they clapped and whistled for Jo to return to the stage for
an encore. It felt good being on this side of the stage for once, just another
audience member looking up with awe at a stellar performer. Nashville’s finest
musicians, critics, and business folks gathered in these pews to witness her
performance, alongside some of the most devoted fans he’d ever seen. JD’s ears
were ringing from all the screams unleashed for her.
He and the band cut their Northeast tour short a day to come to
the Ryman for Jo’s induction into the Grand Old Opry family. He and his band
had been members for five years and he tried to make it to every new induction.
Now he was second-guessing that decision. He figured enough time had passed
between them that his presence here wouldn’t bother her, that maybe she
would’ve expected to see him and be happy about it. But there was something
about the way she looked at him, like there was a glitch in her system. And Jo
Lover, who was master of her instruments, one of the finest musicians he’d ever
known, messed up that easy Loretta number.
JD put his fingers in his mouth and let out a cattle whistle.
His bass player Rob stood next to him and shouted Jo’s name over and over. Rob
wore the same black and white Willie and Waylon outlaw t-shirt he’d owned since
middle school. JD was an only child and Rob was the closest to a brother that
JD had. JD and Rob snuck out the house and hitched a ride away from Gate City
to attend that Willie and Waylon show together. Rob waited in line for almost an
hour to have his shirt signed. When it was finally his turn and he had the
chance to talk to Willie, he almost didn’t speak, just stood there adjusting
his thick glasses. JD shoved him and Rob finally said, “You guys are so cool”
and Willie said, “So are you, kid.” Rob talked about it for months. Still
brought it up when they got drunk. All they wanted back then was to be those
guys. Swore they’d grow up to be outlaws and not ruin their bodies at the
quarry like their fathers had. They swore they’d find something better to do
with their hands.
Born
and raised in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Sarah Creech now
teaches English and Creative Writing at Queens University of Charlotte. She
lives in Charlotte, NC with her two children and her husband, the poet Morrie
Creech.
Tasty Q&A with
Sarah Creech
- What did you
enjoy most about writing this book?
The
research process! I explored the history of country music through the wonderful
scholarly texts of Bill C. Malone and I drew so much inspiration from tales of
Opry romances and curses, friendships and heartbreaks. Country music is the
most neglected of all music styles in scholarly work due to its complicated
regional history, but it’s far and away the best narrative music genre. I’m
grateful for Malone, who dedicated his scholarly career to studying the roots
of country music and beyond. Through Malone and other important writers, I
discovered the romantic relationships between Martina McBride and her producer
husband and George Jones and Tammy Wynette. Those romantic/working relationships
have long fascinated me since I’m in a marriage with another artist.
I
also researched the on stage duet relationships between superstars like Dolly
Parton and Porter Wagoner and all the complications that arise when a romantic
link is missing. I had the pleasure of being granted access to the Frist
Library in the Country Hal of Fame in Nashville, TN, where I listened to the
earliest recordings of the Grand Ole Opry, found the first draft of Waylon
Jennings’s autobiography, which I promptly read it from start to finish, and
explored all the microfiche a writer could want about the country music
industry. I’m fascinated by independent labels like Big Machine (Taylor Swift’s
label) headed by Scott Borchetta and 3rd Man Records headed by Jack
White and how they operate in a town where multi-national corporations hold
most of the power. I read through many newspaper clippings and explored the
trajectory of the country music industry from the 60s to current day and all
the disruptions along the way like rock music, the Vietnam War, and the rise of
pirating technology.
On
one of my last days at the Frist Library, Jack White and his entourage walked
into the room where I was the only person granted access on that day. He’s much
taller in person and extremely charismatic. His energy animated the inanimate
objects in the room. He told me I was pretty. And I thought, the nerve of that
guy! He said that to me because he’s Jack White, because he could. Still, for a
full hour I was deeply distracted. A few weeks later I found out he was there
to pick up one of the earliest known recordings of Elvis. A friend of Elvis’s from
before he was famous found the record in his closet, and Jack White had it digitally
re-mastered at the Frist Library. And I happened to be there when it was all
finished. Meeting Jack White and researching in Nashville became a turning
point for the novel. The night before I was set to head home from this research
trip, I had a dream that I’d forgotten my current manuscript on an elevator that
would never come back down to me. I knew my dream was telling me to start over,
to make it bigger, to try and capture all the light, charm, and magnitude of
Jack White’s presence and Nashville at large.
Beyond
book research, I found myself drinking lots of whiskey with great musicians who
generously gave me just enough access to their lives to inspire the characters
in this book. Chance McCoy of Old Crow Medicine Show and J.P. Harris of J.P.
Harris and the Tough Choices were so open and helpful that I’ll never be able
to thank them fully.
- If you could
trade places with anyone for just one day, who would you be?
Dolly
Parton
- A la Twitter style, please describe your book in 140 characters
or less.
About the rising Queen of Country and the Top 40
superstar she used to love.
4. Where
did the inspiration for this book come from?
A few
years ago I was sitting at a local honkytonk joint called the Thirsty Beaver
here in Charlotte, NC, where I live. This is an iconic bar in Charlotte, and
proudly sells the most Jim Beam in the entire state. The bar is run by two
fabulous brothers who created the idea for this place before the Plaza Midwood
neighborhood was as cool and in demand as it is now. They had no idea if anyone
would come to a bar playing Hank Williams, not Blake Shelton. There’s a velvet
Kenny Rogers poster on the storage room door and a Charlie Pride hologram on
the wall. (I tried to capture the charm of this place in my novel. The Thirsty
Baboon is an homage to this place.)
So I
was sitting on a barstool at the Thirsty Beaver, drinking a whiskey neat, and
waiting for J.P. Harris and The Tough Choices to start playing. I’d seen J.P.
play once before in Galax, Virginia, on a snowy evening where couples came out
for a two step. He promised me his show at the Thirsty Beaver would be a lot
more raucous. And he was right, of course. I remember sitting on that bar
stool, watching him perform with his sleeves of tattoos on display and his big
black beard grown out before all the hipsters were doing it and I remember his
passion for the roots of country music, for playing covers by the greats like
Merle Haggard and Hank Williams. This rebellious musician and all his respect
and passion for the tradition really struck me. I thought, What if I guy like
this could become really famous in Nashville? And that question sparked the
beginning of The Whole Way Home. The
book doesn’t follow the exact trajectory of that question, but I’m glad to
report that J.P. Harris is well on his way to turning that what if into
reality. Now he’s so busy touring that the guys at the Thirsty Beaver can’t
book him anymore! We’re all proud of him.
5. How
long have you been writing, and what (or who) inspired you to start?
I wrote and
illustrated my first book of poems in the 4th grade and my first
novel in the sixth grade, and I’ve been writing ever since. My mother was a
voracious reader. I have many memories of walking into her bedroom in the
evenings and on the weekends to find her reading paperbacks in bed with many
more scattered on the floor. She was a single, hard-working mom of four girls
with no help from my father. I knew how stressed and difficult her life was and
I remember drawing the conclusion that books gave her comfort, peace, just like
reading Roald Dahl, Shel Silverstein, and Amelia Bedelia did for me. Books were
magical, and I wanted to participate as a creator.
- Do you have any
advice to give to aspiring writers?
Treat
the first ten years like an apprenticeship. Be impatient for success and
patient with your failures. Don’t quit.
- Is there anything
that you would like to say to your readers and fans?
Thank
you so much for reading on all formats, for building community through books,
and for keeping word of mouth promotion alive and well. Without you, writers work
in a silo.
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