 | Pressing On: The Roni Stoneman Story 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. Roni Stoneman was a member of the legendary Stoneman Family and a longtime cast member of Hee Haw . She remains a performing banjo player, entertainer, and comedienne. Ellen Wright is Distinguished Senior Lecturer Emeritus in the writing program at Northwestern University. |
