Roni Stoneman was the youngest daughter of the pioneering country music family and a woman who overcame poverty and abusive husbands to claim the title of "The First Lady of Banjo," a fixture on the Nashville scene, and, as Hee Haw's Ironing Board Lady, a comedienne beloved by millions.
Drawn from more than seventy-five hours of recorded interviews, Pressing On reveals Roni's gifts as a master storyteller. With characteristic spunk and candor, she describes her "pooristic" ("way beyond 'poverty-stricken'") Appalachian childhood, and how her brother Scott taught her to play the challenging and innovative three-finger banjo picking style developed by Earl Scruggs. She also warmly recounts Hee Haw-era adventures with Minnie Pearl, Roy Clark, and Buck Owens; her encounters as a musician with country greats like Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, June Carter, and Patsy Cline; as well as her personal struggles with shiftless and violent husbands, her relationships with her children, and her musical life after Hee Haw.
| ISBN: | 9780252031915 |
| Publication date: | 23rd March 2007 |
| Author: | Roni Stoneman, Ellen Wright |
| Publisher: | University of Illinois Press |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 248 pages |
| Series: | Music in American Life |
| Genres: |
Musicians, singers, bands and groups Biography: arts and entertainment Traditional and folk music Composers and songwriters |