“Mark Twain: Words & Music” Benefit CD Package Released by
Jimmy Buffett & Mailboat Records Featuring Star-Studded Cast with
Grammy Award-winning Producer Carl Jackson

Mark Twain might best be remembered for his writings about life on the Mississippi River, featuring his most famous character Huck Finn. When Twain died over 100 years ago, he probably never would have imagined that some of the world’s most renowned actors, musicians, authors and entertainers would come together to celebrate his life. That celebration has resulted in a new double-CD set that is burning up the charts and is particularly unique for bringing together personalities like best-selling author and rock star Jimmy Buffett; nine-time Grammy winner Sheryl Crow; multiple-Academy Award-winning film director and star Clint Eastwood; best-selling author and radio host Garrison Keillor; and a Who’s Who of Country and Bluegrass music legends including Vince Gill, Brad Paisley, Carl Jackson, Ricky Skaggs, Emmylou Harris, Joe Diffie and more.

Dr. Cindy Lovell, Executive Director of the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum, originally conceived the idea. It turns out that her childhood friend, Carl Jackson, just happened to be a Grammy winning producer, singer, and songwriter. After hearing his 2003 Grammy winning star-studded project honoring country music legends the Louvin Brothers, she approached him about producing a similar project to honor the 100-year passing of Twain and benefit the home and museum. Once Carl said yes, she managed to get backstage at a Jimmy Buffett concert where she approached him about participating in the project. Buffett, who has made a career of writing and singing about life on the water and is a huge Twain fan, not only agreed to participate, but also made the decision to release the final project on his own label, Mailboat Records. He even came on board as the voice of Huck Finn, Twain’s most beloved character – and what an amazing characterization he provides. The final project resulted in Mark Twain: Words & Music, a double-CD with a 40-page booklet of liner notes. It was written and produced as a benefit for the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum and tells Twain's life from comet to comet in spoken word and song. The CD includes a mixture of narration, Twain’s dialogue, and Huck’s voice along with a combination of old music and new songs written specifically for this project.

According to Producer Carl Jackson, he contacted his friend, Brad Paisley, by sending him a demo of a new song called “Huck Finn Blues,” co-written by Carl, Danny Wilson, and Emily Hayes, specifically for the project. Brad listened to only a portion of the song before calling Carl to say he wanted to record it.  Several weeks later and after already recording the track, Paisley, who has a connection to Hollywood through his actress wife Kimberly Williams (who starred in Father of the Bride), called Carl and said “I’m having dinner on Friday with Clint Eastwood. Do you want me to see if he would be willing to come onboard and play the voice of Twain?” Jackson’s response was, “Go ahead, make my day.” While Clint graciously agreed to pitch in, he was very careful to suggest that Jackson first ask his friend, Hal Holbrook. Lovell had already asked Holbrook, who had respectfully declined the recorded voice role, deciding to remain strictly a stage performer of Samuel Clemens, for which he has won a Tony Award. Mr. Holbrook is an advisory board member at the Museum and is very supportive of the project, and thus opened the door for his dear friend, Clint Eastwood, to become the voice of Mark Twain.

Alison Krauss had graciously offered to perform on the CD also, but when scheduling conflicts got in the way the producer had to consider other options. Carl Jackson was in the studio with Sheryl Crow singing on Brad Paisley’s latest album, when Jackson said a light bulb went off.

“Brad and I had just finished working on “Life’s Railway To Heaven” with Sheryl, when he and I just looked at each other and thought why don’t we ask Sheryl if she’d be willing to sing the song originally slated for Alison. When she said sure, we went ahead and got her to sing “Beautiful Dreamer” right there on the spot. It only took us about a half hour to lay down the vocal tracks, and that song has recently been listed for a possible Grammy in the Pop Music Category.”

In fact, the CD set, or songs from it, has made the Grammy eligibility list in several categories. CBS will broadcast the annual official nominations concert special on November 30, 2011 from Los Angeles. The Grammys are set for Feb. 12, 2012. The 2011 Grammy Award show had 26.6 million viewers. No doubt all involved in this project will be watching closely on the 30th and cheering on their fellow performers on behalf of The Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum. And by sheer coincidence, November 30th is Mark Twain’s birthday.

Jackson said, “I’m so grateful to all of the talented actors and musicians who agreed to perform gratis for the benefit. Everybody that participated in the making of the record was just wonderful! Cindy Lovell and I can’t thank them enough for their generosity.”

The star-studded cast is as follows:
o    Huck Finn: Jimmy Buffett;
o    Narrator: Garrison Keillor;
o    Mark Twain: Clint Eastwood;
o    Susy Clemens: Angela Lovell;
o    Featured Performers: Emmylou Harris; Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver; Rhonda Vincent; Bradley Walker; Carl Jackson; The Church Sisters; Sheryl Crow; Brad Paisley; Marty Raybon; Val Storey; Vince Gill; Joe Diffie; Ricky Skaggs;
o    Musicians & Background Vocalists: Cia Cherryholmes; Tony Creasman; Kevin Grantt; Rob Ickes; Sonya Isaacs; Carl Jackson; Mike Johnson; Andy Leftwich; Joey Martin; Catherine Marx; Johnny Rawls; Jerry Salley; Adam Steffey;  
o    Songwriters: Barbara Berry; Mary Chapin Carpenter; Stephen Earl Foster; Emily Hayes; Tish Hinojosoa; Priscilla Houliston; Carl Jackson; Bryan Kennedy; Eve Nelson; Don Poythress; Jim Rushing; Jerry Salley; Diane Scanlon; Cal Veale; Danny Wilson; Tony Wood;
o    Narrative written by: Cindy Lovell; Mark Twain;
o    Producer: Carl Jackson;
o    Executive Producers: Carl Jackson and Cindy Lovell.

In a challenging and fickle music industry, this project has really come out of left field to rack up some impressive results. Released on September 21, 2011, it only took two weeks to reach Amazon.com’s Best Sellers Rank of #28 in Music , #26 in Pop, #7 in Country, #1 in Poetry, Spoken Word & Interviews ,  and #1 in Bluegrass.  Customers have given it a 5-Star Rating.

Producer Carl Jackson was born in Mississippi, and Mark Twain was raised in Missouri on the banks of the Mississippi River. Twain wrote about life on the river, which was his era’s main highway. Most of the performers on this project spend a lot of time on the road traveling America, performing night after night in different towns. When Jackson was asked if he and the other artists who volunteered to participate in this benefit project feel in some way as though they are a kind of kindred spirit with Twain or his characters, Jackson responded “Oh, yeah. We all set out to chase our dreams. He set out on a steamboat. We left on a bus.”

In 1835, the year Samuel Clemens, writer, reporter, and publisher was born, Halley’s Comet
passed over. Toward the end of his life, Twain hoped he would leave the earth on the comet’s next orbit, which typically comes around every 75 years or so. Twain died April 21, 1910, the last night that the perihelion of the great comet was visible.  Ironically, Carl Jackson, along with friends and partners Larry Cordle and Jerry Salley, played an outdoor concert in August next to Twain’s boyhood home to promote the upcoming release of Mark Twain: Words & Music. That night the crowd witnessed a backdrop of two shooting stars cross the evening sky as Carl performed “Comet Ride,” a song he penned especially for the album (sung by Skaggs). Afterwards, Jackson said, “It was like Twain had been directing the project from up above.”

In addition to this benefit project, the trio also performed another benefit show recently for the SADS Foundation (www.StopSADS.org) at Nashville’s famed Bluebird Café. Between the three of them their songs have appeared on albums that have sold more than 85 million copies. When asked how such busy performers find the time to be involved in so many charitable events, Carl responded, “We all do the best we can. We’re just happy to help.”

What does this project mean to The Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum? The costs are significant to maintain the nine historic properties and to fulfill the foundation’s stated mission, “to promote awareness and appreciation of the life and works of Mark Twain and to demonstrate the relevance of his stories and ideas to citizens of the world.” Lovell envisions the CD project as something that can help to raise money for the non-profit museum for years to come while inviting a new audience to Twain’s work.
Please purchase your copy of this amazing CD today, and be sure to tune in to the Grammys and cheer on all of the participants who made this work of love a reality!
The Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum is located at 120 North Main, Hannibal, MO 63401 | Phone: 573-221-9010 | Fax: 573-221-7975 Or visit them on the internet at www.marktwainmuseum.org . To hear samples of each track from “Mark Twain: Words & Music” and purchase a copy of the CD package, please visit the Twain web site, or any other fine music retailer like Amazon.com.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING “MARK TWAIN: WORDS & MUSIC” & THE MARK TWAIN BOYHOOD HOME & MUSEUM:

1. AirPlayDirect where segments of every track can be heard and where
radio stations can download songs:
http://airplaydirect.com/music/marktwainmusic/

2. Margaritaville's page featuring Edwards/Illinois Stories (with link):
http://www.margaritaville.com/news.html?n_id=2965&y=2011&m=10

3. The Museum's Info Page about the CD:
http://www.marktwainmuseum.org/index.php/community-projects/mark-twain-cd

4. Blog about Bob Edwards Interview with Dr. Cindy Lovell and Illinois Stories/PBS interview Carl Jackson and Val Storey (with links to broadcasts):
http://blog.marktwainmuseum.org/2011/10/illinois-stories-and-bob-edwards-show.html

5. Museum Press Release about the Mailboat label with lengthy quote by
Buffett:
http://www.marktwainmuseum.org/index.php/press-room/recent-press-releases/197-mark-twain-museum-releases-cd-on-mailboat-label

6. The CD's Facebook Page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mark-Twain-Words-Music/155205404547516


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