What will Kentucky Book Festival visitors find on your table?
My table will contain me, my book Murder Ballads Old & New, prints and postcards of artwork from the book, and a limitednumber of totes and microfiber cloths also decorated with the book’s artwork. In addition, buy a copy and enter a raffle fora set of high-quality Giclée prints from the book. Plus, moon pies!
Whom do you invite to stop by? Who will benefit from reading your book?
Everyone is welcome! But if songs about death and loss, true crime, history, folklore, Appalachia, and shadow realms ofthe weird and foreboding intrigue you, we should chat. My book is a graveyard stroll past tombs well-kept and half-hidden.Stop by, and I’ll gladly show you around.
Could you please tell us something curious about you and/or your book?
I’m an artist, writer, and musician from Louisville. However, I spent much of my youth researching family and local odditiesin rural Kentucky. I played in the seminal Louisville post-punk band Folks on Fire. When I taught at the School of the ArtInstitute of Chicago, one of my most popular classes was a survey of horror films. Murder Ballads Old & New coversalmost a millennium of the human hit parade: the oldest song in the book dates from the 13th century, and the mostrecent is from 2020.
Is this your first time participating in Kentucky Book Festival? If yes – what are you looking forward to the most?If you’ve participated before – what was your favorite experience at the Festival?
Yes! This is my first time with KBF. I’m excited to meet other writers and spend hours talking to potential readers. All in mybeloved home state—site of so many storied events and peculiar traditions that influence my art and writing.
