This is the beach at Napeague, Long Island.  It’s funny to think of a beach being passed on to you, but my ancestor, William Cash, who was a Nantucket whaler, shipwrecked right here in 1839.  He was one of four men to survive, and he swam to shore during the storm, while his ship burned on the reef.  I go to this spot a lot, and I feel a bit territorial about it, since in a small way it represents the survival of the Cash line.  It’s my beach, passed on by a 19th century whaler who shares my last name, and who survives in part in me.

From left Carl Perkins, Dave Edmunds, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Rosanne Cash, Ringo Starr, Slim Jim Phantom et.al Cinemax special, London, 1985

My dad was a good friend to Carl, and Carl repaid that friendship by passing it forward and inviting me to be the only woman on this show (the ‘token’ woman, as one of the producers snarkily informed me, but I didn’t give a damn). All the music represented on this stage is a legacy so huge that it is something we will all share, for generations to come.

This is the headstock on my Martin guitar.  Martin made a Rosanne Cash model last year and it is just gorgeous. I am extremely proud of it. You can see more of it on the cover of my new record “The List”, or at this link.  Some guitar gods I know were seriously alarmed that the color green appeared on a Martin headstock, an event that had never before occurred in Martin history. I am the second generation in my family that has had a Martin signature guitar, and I suspect I will not the last generation to receive that honor.