New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Rick Hoganson Media) Three-time GRAMMY Award-winning singer, songwriter Ashley Cleveland receives significant endorsements from Amy Grant, J.I. Packer, Jim Wallis, Dan B. Allender, PH.D, Michael Card and others for her first and self-penned book,
Little Black Sheep, A Memoir. Releasing in
September from
David C Cook, the memoir will be available everywhere great books are sold. In the book, Cleveland shares her personal story of pain, music and beauty that shines through brokenness. Cleveland also lends her voice to the companion
Little Black Sheep audio book releasing simultaneously from
Oasis Audio.
Prior to the release of the book and audio book, Cleveland shares her "Little
Black Sheep Video Trailer" at www.AshleyCleveland.com. The trailer includes clips of Cleveland performing her song "Little
Black Sheep," as well as personal insight into the book. "[Little
Black Sheep] is a story of sadness, trouble, a little bit of tragedy, redemption and a little bit of hope, which, for me, is a lot of hope," says Cleveland in the trailer. "Even though it's a memoir, it's a biography, ultimately it's not really about 'Ashley,' it's about the one who rescued her."
With upcoming covers or features in Publishers Weekly, Homecoming Magazine, Christian Musician, The Tennessean and many more, here is what Cleveland's peers are saying about
Little Black Sheep:
"I had barely started the first chapter of
Little Black Sheep and I already knew that the lump in my throat and the teary laughter that oddly accompanied it would be with me for the entire read. They were. I laughed and cried the whole way through, so grateful for Ashley's honesty and for God's hold on her." - Amy Grant, singer/songwriter
"Little
Black Sheep is not really about my friend Ashley in the end. It is not about her life as much as The One who gave her life and redeemed its brokenness. That she could tell such a complete and compelling story in so few pages is a testimony to a gifted writer." - Michael Card, Bible teacher, songwriter and author of A Sacred Sorrow and The Biblical Imagination Series
"This book … delivers me face-to-face with a God who just might be good news. To say that I enjoyed the book is far from the truth. I devoured it. Wept. Raged. Swore. And said Yes again to Jesus." - Dan B. Allender, Ph.D., professor of Counseling Psychology and founding president of The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology
"Ashley Cleveland, singer of sensitive honest songs, has a way with words and the plain story of sin and mercy she tells here is hauntingly powerful. Some readers will undoubtedly find her to be broken bread for their starving souls." - J.I. Packer, author of Knowing God
"Ashley Cleveland is one of my favorite singer/songwriters, whose life and music are deeply rooted in her faith and nurtured by the love of God. In
Little Black Sheep, she honestly shares her own human vulnerabilities, and joyfully offers her amazing gifts…Don't miss this." - Jim Wallis, president, Sojourners
"Little
Black Sheep roars with a powerful message of redemption that will grip your heart and keep you captivated from cover to cover." - Matt Bronleewe, award-winning songwriter, producer and author
"Funny, smart, tender, honest—Ashley's memoir
Little Black Sheep is a wonderful story of redemption. It will fill your heart with hope." - Sally Lloyd-Jones, author of the bestselling and Christian Book Award winning Thoughts to Make Your
Heart Sing
"Little
Black Sheep is one of the bravest, most brutally honest and soul inspiring books I have ever read." - Cindy Morgan, singer/songwriter
"Little
Black Sheep was hard to put down…This fast-paced and vulnerable tale of a wide-open life pulls no punches. It was worth every minute I spent reading it!" - Bruce Carroll, Grammy and Dove award-winning singer, songwriter and worship leader
"Ashley Cleveland is one of the most authentic humans we have had the privilege of getting to know in over two decades of touring and recording. Her soulfulness shines through on every page of this wonderful memoir." - Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist of Over the Rhine
"Ashley Cleveland confronts us with her honesty and pain so deeply that we cannot help but face ourselves. But she does this in such a soft and tender way in her memoir that it will leave all of us nudged toward change." - Terry D. Hargrave, Ph.D., professor of Marriage and Family Therapy at Fuller Theological Seminary and author of Forgiving the Devil: Coming to Terms with Damaged Relationships
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.
