Blue Room Books signs
Joey Huffman to book deal

Top: Huffman in concert
Bottom: Huffman and Durden

Blue Room Books is pleased to announce the signing of Joey Huffman, 58, to a book deal. Release of East to the Sun: Memories From the Life of an Accidental Rock Star is planned in 2022.

 Decatur, Ga | February 3, 2021

Blue Room Books, located in Decatur, Georgia, is pleased to announce the signing of Joey Huffman, 58, to a book deal. The title is East to the Sun: Memories From the Life of an Accidental Rock Star. Release of the book is planned for 2022.

The albums, artists, songs, and travel are mere punctuations in the life of a complicated man who is an insightful poet at heart and fueled by the mind of a brilliant raconteur. Joey Huffman, diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2014, began writing popular long-form vignettes of his life, posting some on his Facebook page.

Publisher Jeff Clark wrote in the January 2021 print edition of his magazine Stomp and Stammer, “Better Use of Your Time Than Livestreams: Joey Huffman’s autobiographical Facebook posts…read like chapters from a book — which hopefully they’ll one day become.”

“Joey and I had lunch a few years ago during which he told me of the stories he was beginning to write,” publisher Angela K. Durden recalls. “I was fascinated by his ability to tell a story with such blunt honesty yet keeping a beautiful turn of phrase. He has a unique voice that we love.” In 2020, Durden offered to publish his book.

Book editing and design is now in process and Mr. Clark’s wish is coming true.

Joey said, “I am very pleased and a little bit over-whelmed at having this book published. So many have told me to do it, but making it happen isn’t a straightforward process. I’m so happy to have signed with Angela Durden and her company.”

 

Bands and solo artists Huffman have played in/for: Matchbox Twenty, Soul Asylum, Isaac Hayes, Steven Tyler, Hank Williams Jr., Lynyrd Skynyrd, Indigo Girls, Witness, Michelle Malone and Drag the River, The Hellhounds, Keith Richards & the Expensive Winos (keyboard tech), Izzy Stradlin, Drivin’ n Cryin’, The Georgia Satellites, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Burns & Poe, Butch Walker, and more. Huffman specializes in piano, Hammond organ, and vintage keyboards. He is also a producer, engineer, and songwriter.

 

Media Contact:

BlueRoomBooks@outlook.com 

Publisher Direct: 404-358-0951   

BlueRoomBooks.com

 

"Keem-O-Sabe" by The Electric Indian

"Tenterfield Saddler" by Peter Allen

"Wham Bam Shang-A-Lang" by Silver

"O-o-h Child" by The Five Stairsteps 1970

"Simon Says" by the 1910 Fruitgum Company

“1-2-3 Red Light” by the 1910 Fruitgum Company

"Beg, Borrow and Steal" The Rare Breed

"Don't Wake Me Up In The Morning, Michael" by The Peppermint Rainbow

"Will You Be Staying After Sunday?" The Peppermint Rainbow

"Baby, Let Me Bang Your Box" by Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts

"The King of Fuh" by Brute Force

They're Coming To Take Me Away Ha-Haaaa!

Elvis Presley and my mother

Why is Angela so attuned to music? Well...

by Angela K. Durden

Talk about a titillating headline.

I only hope the MSM is having a slow news day. Maybe they will pick up the headline and think, "Ah, hah! We have yet another person claiming Elvis is their daddy", and will retweet, link to, post, and otherwise share it with their fifty sane readers and their hundreds of thousands of P-HWPCDLRSFC readers without reading the rest of the article.

Because the only thing titillating about this article is the headline. Let me tell you what happened and how it involved my mother.

It happened in the mid-1950s when my mother was fifteen and Elvis came through her town on a train. Seems all the teenage girls in the area had gotten the message they should be at the train station to see the great man himself as he stepped off the train for a photo op.

My mother, who at the time was a fun-loving gal, went. Why not? She didn't have anything better to do — and it was Elvis. When would she ever get to see him that close again? Never, that's when.

So, to the train station she went at the appointed time whereupon she and the other girls were met by some people with cameras and others with clipboards who proceeded to tell them how the photo op would go. They were instructed on how to scream and reach for Elvis. Their practice session was successful.

And here came the train just in time. 

And off fell Elvis down the steps and off the train.

Yes, I said, he fell. He was either drunk or high and couldn't hold himself up. So, his handlers tried to prop him up and get him to walk down again several times.

The movie cameras were rolling, the still cameras' bulbs were popping, the girls were screaming, and Elvis still couldn't stand.

My mother, along with these other girls, were not actresses. They were realists and after a little bit even the screaming seemed faked.

So Elvis was packed back up onto the train. Other packing went on as well. The publicity agents packed up their schedules, newshounds their gear, and the girls their hopes and dreams.

I was reminded of the story this afternoon because, in the background, I heard Ed Sullivan introduce Elvis to his audience. The King began singing and just as he sang the song's hook, like a fire hose, the female screaming was turned on. They had to have been watching an applause prompter because it turned off to a dead silence in just the right place when harmonies kicked in.

This routine went on three times during the song. Dead silence. SCREAMING. Three times.

I know you, Dear Reader, are disappointed that I, your Poet-In-Residence and Goddess by the Microphone, did not get her talents from Presley.

In fact, I didn't even know who he was until he died. 

I told you I lived a sheltered life. I was nineteen when Elvis died and only remember because some friends had talked me into buying a ticket to see him in concert somewhere in North Carolina. I heard on the radio the concert was cancelled and I drove straight to the radio station to get my money back for the ticket.

My friends were livid I had gotten my money back. "That ticket will be worth something one day!" they cried. I said I could use the money now.

About thirty years after that I came to realize what a damn big deal he was. I told you I am often slow on the uptake when it comes to men.

Citizen Journalist.  Novelist. Author of other stuff. 

Business writer.  Songwriter.  Protecting creator's copyrights.