Bird on a Blade

by Rosanne Cash, Dan Rizzie (Contributor)

With an iconic sound that transcends country, pop, rock, and blues, Rosanne Cash's voice and vision have captured American life for generations of fans. Over the same time span, internationally acclaimed artist Dan Rizzie has wowed collectors with his evocative paintings, prints, and collages. Now, in a book that is as unique as their artistry, Cash and her longtime friend Rizzie have teamed up to create an extraordinary hybrid. Blending images created by Rizzie with strands of lyrics from a variety of Cash's songs (including new material from her latest album, She Remembers Everything, as well as her beloved classics), Bird on a Blade is a mosaic designed to inspire the imagination and soothe the heart.

Oscillating between periods of growth and times of darkness, Bird on a Blade reflects on life's mysteries. Powerful lines from songs such as "God Is in the Roses" from the 2006 album Black Cadillac evoke themes of mourning, with meditations on solitude. By turns, a verse of "Fire of the Newly Alive" from the 1993 album The Wheel celebrates passion and renewal. Working together, Cash and Rizzie selected some of his most vibrant paintings, collages, and drawings to complement the words, using geometric patterns, ornaments, and lush glimpses of nature, including Rizzie's signature bird imagery.

The work of a harmonious duet, the fifty pairings in Cash and Rizzie's Bird on a Blade exude inspiration from cover to cover.

116 pages, Hardcover

Published October 1, 2018

About the author

Roseanne Cash is a four time Grammy award winning American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of country music icon Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Liberto.

Cash married country music singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell in 1979. They have three daughters: Caitlin, Chelsea and Carrie. They divorced in 1992. She married her second husband, John Leventhal, in 1995, and they have one son, Jakob. Cash lives in Manhattan

Reviews

[Jack]

If you are a fan of Ms Cash, you will enjoy her lyrical excerpts matched with the exquisite artwork by Dan Rizzie. If you appreciate art, you will probably also appreciate this book.

[Evelyn]

This is nonsensical! The graphics bear no relationship to the verbiage, and the verbiage has no linkage or commonalities. It fails to tell a story.

This is an example of a vanity project by two well-known people rather than a serious literary effort. And if it weren’t for the fame of the authors, it would never have been published or sold to the public.

[Anna V]

I don’t know the songs so maybe that’s why the lyrics didn’t always speak to me but I enjoyed the art esthetic.