Jesusfreakhideout.com Music News, June 2013: GRAMMY AWARD WINNER ASHLEY CLEVELAND RELEASES FIRST BOOK, LITTLE BLACK SHEEP, A MEMOIR FROM DAVID C COOK SEPT. 2013

GRAMMY AWARD WINNER ASHLEY CLEVELAND RELEASES FIRST BOOK,
LITTLE BLACK SHEEP, A MEMOIR FROM DAVID C COOK SEPT. 2013

Cleveland Tells Her Story Of A Devastated Childhood, Addiction As A Young Adult
And The Life-Changing Discovery That Beauty Shines Through Brokenness

NEWS SOURCE: Hoganson Media
June 13, 2013

Multiple GRAMMY Award-winning singer, songwriter Ashley Cleveland shares her personal story of pain, music and beauty that shines through brokenness in her first self-penned book, Little Black Sheep, A Memoir releasing in September from David C Cook. A true story of life on stage and on the streets from the back rooms of Nashville to the churches and clubs of the San Francisco Bay area, Little Black Sheep invites readers to see how their own deepest pain might just be a place of hope.

"Gradually and reluctantly with a great deal of hemming, hawing and complaining, I surrendered to telling my tale," shares Cleveland. "This is the story of the groundwork that paved the way to my faith. It is not an easy story to tell."

Sharing her deeply engaging story with an original, authentic voice that is equal parts humor and pathos, Cleveland was born into a Knoxville, TN family fraught with conflict, yet poised to keep up its seamless appearances despite alcoholism, homosexuality, divorce, displacement and a slavish devotion to performance. She took the rough road of rebellion into her own addiction and self-destruction. If there was trouble, near or far, she found it. In the midst of the chaos she discovered music, something she had a natural gift for and the one thing that engendered a positive response from others. She continued on, precariously attempting to balance a desire for a career as a recording artist with a growing and consuming addiction, increasingly catastrophic behavior and an absence of any foundation or understanding of a merciful, loving God.

Interrupted by an unplanned, unmarried and unwanted pregnancy that ultimately becomes the starting point of faith and a life of substance and value, Cleveland encounters the transforming power of the Living God who is abundantly forgiving, tenderhearted and relentlessly faithful to her. Little by little, her life is ultimately rebuilt, taking all the devastation in her wake and using it as a platform of experience to bring hope and courage to others. Along the way she finds sobriety, a long, devoted marriage and family, as well as success in her musical career.

"I have emerged from my own isolation to find that I love belonging to the body of Christ, to the program of AA, to the human community," writes Cleveland in her book. "I have been invited in from the margins, not as a guest artist, but as a family member."

Now that little black sheep, she ain't nothin' but trouble
She's not worth much and she'll cost you double
Shepherd says he knows but he won't sleep
He's gonna go out and find
That little black sheep
(From the song "Little Black Sheep" by Ashley Cleveland)

About Ashley Cleveland:
Since her debut on Atlantic Records in 1991, Ashley Cleveland has recorded eight critically acclaimed albums. She was the first woman to be nominated for a GRAMMY in the Best Rock Gospel Album category and the only woman to ever win the award three times (Lesson of Love, 1995; You Are There, 1998; Before The Daylight's Shot, 2007). Receiving her fourth GRAMMY nomination in 2010 for Best Traditional Gospel Album for God Don't Never Change, a collection of spirituals, Cleveland also has two Dove Awards for her contributions to Songs From The Loft (1993) and The Jesus Record (1998). Three of her albums have been on Billboard's year-end best list (Big Town, Bus Named Desire, Men And Angels Say) and she has been nominated twice for a Nashville Music Award (Lesson Of Love, God Don't Never Change), winning for Lesson Of Love. She was named Female Vocalist of the year in 2007 by ChristianityToday.net and, in addition to her own recordings, has contributed background vocals on over 300 records over the course of her career. Having performed with John Hiatt, Steve Winwood, Joe Cocker, Emmylou Harris, Etta James, Patty Smyth, and Amy Grant, among many others, she has also appeared on Austin City Limits, Late Night with David Letterman and Saturday Night Live.

Cleveland is also a writer and essayist who has contributed to books, including The Dance of Heaven and The Art of Being. She lives in Nashville with her husband Kenny Greenberg (one of America's great session guitarists) and has three children, Rebecca, Henry and Lily. For more information, including her latest tour dates, go to www.AshleyCleveland.com.

About David C Cook:
David C Cook is a leading nonprofit resource provider serving the global Church with life-transforming, Christ-centered materials. Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with offices in Illinois, Canada and the United Kingdom, David C Cook's resources are published in over 150 languages and distributed in more than 160 countries. Originally founded in 1875 as a curriculum publisher, today David C Cook publishes numerous bestselling fiction and non-fiction books from a variety of award-winning authors. It is also a leading provider of worship music through its Integrity Music label, which produces over one-third of the top 100 praise and worship songs sung around the world. Additional information can be found at www.davidccook.com.

###

For more info on Ashley Cleveland visit the JFH Artists Database.