Girl To Country: A Memoir

Girl To Country: A Memoir

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Girl To Country: A Memoir episodes

  • Chapter Twenty-Nine

    Summer, self-doubt, help from my stepmother give way to a new album and words of wisdom from Patti Smith.

    Hope you enjoy listening to the episode as much as I enjoyed reading it for you.

    18 min
  • Chapter Twenty-Eight

    Minivans, and the men who sell them. Snow and heat and finding friends in Canton OH.

    Track in this episode is Astrovan, from (spoiler alert!) Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby - but that's a story for the next few episodes...

    19 min
  • Chapter Twenty-Seven

    "...have you ever been to Cleveland in the middle of winter?"

    Spelling tests, loneliness and snow...Dream Baby Dream.

    Thanks for listening!

    20 min
  • Chapter Twenty-Six

    Recording Little Fugitive, leaning on New York. What're things like in Shaker Heights? Hello Astrovan, goodbye Nashville

    Songs in this episode:

    • So You Know Now from Little Fugitive
    • Rode Hard, The Sugar Tree

    Thanks for listening!

    11 min
  • Chapter Twenty-Five

    New York City, December 2004. Robert Quine's memorial, Shams reunion and Wreckless Eric at Maxwell's. Are things looking up, or about to get more complicated?

    Songs in this episode:

    • Shams File Clerk Blues, live at AS 220 , 1990 (you can watch the whole show  here https://youtu.be/H9uXsljPGUE?si=CNdTWP0v10BWrM7m)
    • Rode Hard from The Sugar Tree

    16 min
  • Chapter Twenty-Four

    Seeing a way out; feeling regret. Barney Miller. The things I left behind. Some of the people in this episode are gone now: Kris Kristofferson, Chet Flippo, Martha Hume. I'm glad I could remember them for a little while.

    Songs used:

    • I Don't Wanna Talk About Love No More from Little Fugitive (d'oh just realized I haven't put that one up on Bandcamp yet!)
    • Lonesome Valley (a home recording I made for my Diary podcast, available here)
    14 min
  • Chapter Twenty-Three

    A wedding, a loss.  I find myself lady of the house in a fancy neighborhood in Birmingham—so how come my daughter's living in Cleveland? Something's got to give...

    Songs in this episode:

    • Dream Girl, unreleased 4 track demo from about 1984
    • Rode Hard from The Sugar Tree

    Thanks for listening!

    12 min
  • Chapter Twenty-Two

    Mother & daughter on the road in 2004, the last hurrah?

    This episode brought me to tears a few times. I cut out the big sobs. It also made me laugh.

    Includes I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts live from Barry's Pub Grange Ireland by Hazel & Amy Rigby

    You can watch the whole show on YouTube

    21 min
  • Chapter Twenty-One

    "I'm not just a girl. I'm a girl with a guitar..." I wrote in Girl To City. Guitar is part of my identity, and it's not always easy how that works. A big part of it is about feeling free.

    Writing Dancing With Joey Ramone, touring with Steve Earle.

    Early solo version of DWJR from an interview on KUT in Austin. 

    Thanks for listening!

    15 min
  • Chapter Twenty

    It hadn't been an easy tour...but then what tour was ever easy? Ireland, the UK; Charles tightens the screws even with an ocean between us. Back home, an ending approaches.

    I don't think I realized until recording this episode how sad, and how strong I must've been back then. Thanks for listening.

    16 min

About Girl To Country: A Memoir

From the publisher's feed

Broken-down vehicles. Premenopausal libido. A punk rock-loving teen to share the culture shock with. I don't think Hank done it this way.


A few years after her 1996…