THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 2, 1996 TAG: 9605300206
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Interview
SOURCE: John Harper
LENGTH: 97 lines
Songwriters Billy Edd Wheeler and Paul Craft came to the Outer Banks last November to fish. Another fishing buddy, Outer Banks broadcaster Ken Mann, joined the pair in their rented South Nags Head cottage.
For a week, the three men swapped fish tales, told ghost stories, baited hooks, casted both fishing and song lines.
What emerged after seven days was more than a dozen songs, in various stages of progress, about the Outer Banks.
The completed songs were put aside. Wheeler took some of the unfinished songs back to his home in Asheville. Craft transported bits and pieces to his home base in Nashville. Homeboy Mann gathered some of the words and music produced during the week of brainstorming.
From November to early May, the trio, with help from another frequent Outer Banks visitor, Chet Atkins, worked on the songs. Atkins, Wheeler and Craft sometimes met in Nashville. Mann collaborated by computer and telephone.
Over the course of six months, Wheeler, Craft, Atkins and studio players and singers put the tunes on tape in Nashville.
The finished product arrives in stores this week. ``Songs and Legends of the Outer Banks'' is the title of the collection celebrating coastal life.
Mann, 40, gets a writing credit on nine of the new album's songs. He is president of the newly formed Kitty Hawk Records, the company that will distribute the album.
He is also president of the company that owns and operates radio stations WNHW in Nags Head and WYND on Hatteras Island. In his spare time, Mann hosts the ``Carolina Morning Show'' on both radio stations.
Mann began his radio career in 1970 at WOBR in Wanchese, six months after the Outer Banks' original station went on the air. His musical career includes stints with the rock outfit the C.B. Parker Band and several years with the Wanchese-based gospel group Undivided.
He currently plays guitar and keyboards in the gospel/country/big-band Captain's Crew. Catch Captain's Crew on Dare Day Saturday in downtown Manteo.
I recently talked to Mann about his songwriting and the new album.
Q: You're in with some heavyweights. Billy Edd Wheeler? Chet Atkins? Paul Craft?
A: Billy Edd just walked in the studio a few years ago. He introduced himself and told me he was a songwriter. I knew his work. He wrote ``Jackson'' and ``Coward of the County,'' among others. He loved to fish and so do I. We became friends. He later participated in a songwriters seminar on the Outer Banks.
I met Paul through Billy Edd. Chet's daughter used to live here. But I really know him through Paul and Billy Edd.
Q: Those three guys are all established songwriters and performers. Were you intimidated by that?
A: At first I was apprehensive. But not so much for the songwriting. Paul's a great musician.
Q: Tell me about the writing sessions.
A: I would tell them stories about the Outer Banks. All the songs are about the Outer Banks. Some are legends, some are true stories. Then one person would come up with a line. But what was interesting was that they never accepted the first line. We might come back to it, but we always kicked around other lines.
Q: Sounds like you learned a lot from these guys.
A: Both of them were capable of taking ideas and getting right to the point. There is a real craft to writing songs.
Q: What's your favorite song on the album?
A: ``Buffalo City'' is my favorite of the ones I had a hand in. It's about when they used to make moonshine. I think it's the most commercial track on the album.
My favorite song on the album is ``Walk Gently on the Earth.'' Billy Edd wrote that one. It's got a strong message about ecology.
Q: You've done so many things in your career: hosted a television show, managed radio stations, been a radio personality, played in bands. How does this project rate?
A: As far as music goes, this is no doubt a thrill. I feel fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. Just to be affiliated with these guys is a kick. To have your picture on an album cover with Chet Atkins is something few people have a chance to do.
Q: What's next?
A: We're distributing the album. Paul is pitching some of the songs to artists in Nashville. Billy Edd is working on radio airplay.
Q: Did the album turn out the way you wanted it to?
A: I'm real happy with it. Billy Edd and Paul did all the singing and playing. And they used some of the top people in Nashville. I think the people who call the Outer Banks home and the others who visit will be real proud of it.
Farmers of the Sea,'' ``Hatteras Hattie,'' ``I See the Light'' and ``My Heart Will Always Be in Carolina'' are among the tracks on ``Songs and Legends of the Outer Banks.''
The album can be purchased in stores on the Outer Banks. It is also available by mail order. The CD is $14.95; the cassette is $9.95, plus $2 for shipping and handling. The address of Kitty Hawk Records is P.O. Box 431, Wanchese, N.C. 27981. Call 473-3024. ILLUSTRATION: Billy Edd Wheeler
Paul Craft
Kenn Mann
Chet Atkins by CNB