Prominent Kentucky musicians, authors explore mountaintop removal

RELEASED: February 26, 2008

DANVILLE, KY—A group of prominent and accomplished Kentucky authors, songwriters and musicians have collaborated to form Public Outcry and will explore mountaintop removal mining in words, music and images on Thursday, Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m. in Weisiger Theatre on Centre College's campus. This event is free to the public.

Public Outcry is made up of: Silas House, Jason Howard, Jessie Lynne Keltner, Kate Larken, George Ella Lyon and Anne Shelby. From various parts of Kentucky, these artists have joined forces to inform the public about mountaintop removal mining. Their collective mission is to educate people inside and outside the state about the effects; their goal is to inform citizens enough to be able to convince the government to enforce mountaintop removal mining regulations.

The members of Public Outcry had been performing as a group of individual artists and as two groups—"The Doolittles" and "The Cosmic Mamaws"—who combined efforts from time-to-time. As they worked together to educate the public about mountaintop removal mining, they decided to give their group the name "Public Outcry" to reflect how they felt about the issue.

Public Outcry: Biographies

"The Doolittles"

—Jason Howard is a writer and musician living in London, Ky. He is a frequent contributor to "Kentucky Living," "Paste" and "Equal Justice Magazine." An accomplished musician and songwriter, Howard tries to play every instrument he can get his hands on.

—Silas House is the author of the novels "Clay's Quilt," "A Parchment of Leaves" and "The Coal Tattoo," as well as the play "The Hurting Part." He has received many honors, including the Appalachian Book of the Year, the Award of Special Achievement from the Fellowship of Southern Writers, the Chaffin Award for Literature, two Kentucky Literary Prizes for Novel of the Year and the fiction prize from the National Society of Arts and Letters. House is a two-time finalist for both the Southern Book Critics Circle Prize and the Southeast Booksellers Association (SEBA) Book of the Year. He resides in Eastern Kentucky with his wife and two daughters.

"The Cosmic Mamaws"

—Jessie Lynne Keltner is a songwriter and musician who has performed throughout Appalachia. Her voice and songs ring with the rich, ancient tones of her ancestors. Raised in Southeastern Kentucky, she currently lives in London.

—Kate Larken is a songwriter, playwright, activist, educator, producer and publisher whose career is an intersection of communication, education and the arts. She has recorded five collections of original music and has contributed to various other recording and performance projects. A native of Western Kentucky's rural farmlands and later a transplant into the great nation of Appalachia, she currently lives on the Ohio River in a big, old city with working-class roots that run deep.

—George Ella Lyon is originally from Harlan County, Ky., and has published 35 books for children and adults. Her most recent titles include the memoir "Don't You Remember?"; the picture books "No Dessert Forever!" and "Trucks Roll!"; "Sonny's House of Spies"; and a reprint of the adult novel "With a Hammer for My Heart." Married to musician/writer Steve Lyon, she is the mother of two sons and makes her living as a freelance writer and teacher in Lexington.

—Anne Shelby, who grew up in Southeastern Kentucky, lives near Oneida in Clay County, Ky. She is the author of children's books, poems, newspaper columns and a forthcoming collection of Appalachian folktales.

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