My Latest Book Project: The Life of Outlaw Legend Billy Don Burns

Published by

Colin E. Woodward

on

October 10, 2024

In 2022, I published my second book, Country Boy: The Roots of Johnny Cash. Now, I’m taking on a new book project. I’m sticking with country music. As was the case with my book on Cash, I’m writing about a guy whose music combines country and rock and roll with some religious tunes thrown in. 

The subject is Billy Don Burns, an Arkansas native who got his start in Nashville in the 1970s and has worked with everyone from Johnny Paycheck and Merle Haggard to Mack Vickery, Tanya Tucker, and Shooter Jennings.

Photo credit: Clint McClain

And was true of Cash, Billy Don is an Arkansan who grew up in a rural part of the state. He’s in his mid-70s, but he’s still touring, still tearing up the highway in his black Cadillac. I’ve written about him for the Encyclopedia of Arkansas and the Arkansas Times. But Billy Don’s life needs a book-length treatment. The book, which I’m co-writing with Billy Don, has the working title of I’ve Seen a Lot of Highway: My Life in Country Music

Billy Don is a talker, and he’s excited about finally getting his story told. What we don’t have is a publisher. To get BD’s story out there, I’ll be posting audio files of him telling tales of his upbringing, making music, and life on the road.