02/16/12 MTV Hive – Hive Five: How the Louvin Brothers Channeled the Devil
Pretty much every one of these stories makes Whitmer laugh.
01/18/12 Dirty Roots Radio — Author, Benjamin Whitmer (Satan Is Real: The Ballad of the Louvin Brothers)
When you sit down and talk to someone, they’re doing like I’m doing now. They’re stumbling for words and muttering and not quite getting it right. There’s lots of extraneous stuff in there that you have to find ways to filter out while keeping that unique voice.
01/09/12 Uprooted Music Review – Author Benjamin Whitmer Discusses Working with Charlie Louvin on “Satan Is Real: The Ballad of the Louvin Brothers”
Personally, I don’t think you can call yourself a fan of roots/country/Americana, whatever it’s being called these days, without owning a copy of Tragic Songs of Life. I just don’t think it’s possible.
01/04/12 The New Yorker — “Satan Is Real”: The Gospel Darkness of the Louvin Brothers.
The mix of light and darkness that filled their music was mirrored in their lives, with Charlie keeping on a mostly straight path while his brother Ira gave himself over to the country-music clichés of guns, drink, and divorce—occasionally pursued at the same time, as on a night in 1963 when his third wife shot him six times with a .22 pistol after he had tried to strangle her with a telephone cord. Later, she told the police, “If that sonofabitch don’t die, I’ll shoot him again.” Ira survived, but was killed two years later in a car crash, when he was hit by a drunk driver.
08/14/11 The Crime of it All — Benjamin Whitmer interviewed by Len Wanner
I always think that there must be smarter writers who don’t need to do it this way. But I’m not one of them. It’s labor intensive, and it’s indefensibly dumb. Luckily, I love every phase of it, including revision. If I didn’t, there’s no way in hell I’d do it.
03/29/11 BookPeople’s Blog — 5 Questions With Novelist Benjamin Whitmer
Whitmer files his prose style to a razor sharpness that makes Hammett look flowery. His action scenes are fierce and his terse dialogue can be both funny and chilling. It’s no suprise the book, published by independent publisher PM Press’ hardboiled imprint Switchblade, has been steadily getting attention from crime fiction fans, booksellers, and writers of crime fiction.
12/19/2010 Do Some Damage — PIKE chat with Benjamin Whitmer
On Dec. 18, Steve Weddle and Benjamin Whitmer had a chat about Whitmer’s fantastic book, PIKE.
10/29/10 Hardboiled Wonderland Interview — Pike’s Peak
Benjamin Whitmer’s novel Pike is the most exciting, kick ass debut of the year. There, I said it, the book backs me up. Set in the harsh wilds of rural Kentucky, Ohio and on the streets of Cincinatti, Pike bristles with danger, menace and mortal volatility. The bleak, rugged physical terrain mirrors the psychic and emotional interiors of each character who have been put through hells as diverse as the intentions that paved the way.
10/23/10 Sea Minor Interview — Dancing With Myself: Benjamin Whitmer Interviews Benjamin Whitmer
Waylon. Goddamned. Jennings.
08/30/2010 Spinetingler Magazine — Benjamin Whitmer — interview
Since the death of Larry Brown there have been at least a dozen novelists touted as the heir to Brown’s gritty throne. Needless to say, there have been few who’ve actually lived up to the promise. However, with Benjamin Whitmer’s stark debut, Pike, the Denver, Colorado based novelist easily rivals Brown’s most renowned novels. Recently I was lucky enough to contact the author to discus Pike and other upcoming writing projects.