Local performer participates in book project

By WAYNE QUESENBERRY/Staff

Frank Emerson of Wytheville has added another achievement to his already impressive career. The entertainer, singer, folksinger, songwriter and actor is now an author – more like a co-author.
He collaborated with four other professional traveling Irish singer/songwriters on a book of 70 stories about their 30 years on the road. Their memoirs of the Irish music circuit is titled “Clean Cabbage in the Bucket and Other Tales from the Irish Music Trenches.”
“It was a project six years in the making,” Emerson stated by phone earlier this week from Georgia. “Five of us collaborated on it.”
He noted that the collection was the brainchild of Dennis O’Rourke, one of the authors, who also acted as in-house editor of the project. Robbie O’Connell, Harry O’Donoghue, Seamus Kennedy and Emerson put together the group of unique stories, according to Emerson.
Written in the unique style of each musician, the book of personal experiences touches on the men’s experiences in bars and with the club owners, the audiences, occasional brawl, the hotels, the oddball characters met along the way, the guitars, the women and the music, according to a press release.
Scattered throughout the book are insightful interviews with each author. They provide insight into what makes these performers tick.
“We had to go with a self-publishing group,” Emerson stated. “We’re hoping Penguin will pick it up.”
Living in Wytheville since 1986, he has been performing professionally since 1972. Emerson has had nine record albums produced and has performed on the recordings of numerous friends and associates in the business.
The baritone accompanies himself on the guitar and occasionally on the Celtic drum.
Much of his material is in the Irish music mold, but Emerson also performs Scottish, Canadian, American, Australian and British folk music. It runs the gamut from humorous to soulful.
Emerson will be among the featured entertainers at Josiah’s Grahamfest USA set for Labor Day, Sept. 3, on the grounds of the historic Major Graham Mansion in the eastern Wythe County. He will sell autographed copies of his book at the event.
“Clean Cabbage in the Bucket and Other Tales From the Irish Music Trenches” is available at the Heritage Preservation Center, 115 W. Spiller St. in Wytheville and Cedar Run Artisan Center on West Main in Wytheville.
“I’m writing more stories,” Emerson commented. “I’m not sure about another book.”
Wayne Quesenberry can be reached at 228-6611 or .