A Heartbeat and a Guitar: Johnny Cash and the Making of Bitter Tears

A Heartbeat and a Guitar tells of the collaboration of two distinct yet connected musicians--iconoclast Johnny Cash and pioneering folk artist Peter La Farge-- Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian, the album that influenced the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. In this intimate portrayal of the two musicians, D’Ambrosio interviewed surviving members of Cash’s band, his producers, and admirers Pete Seeger and Kris Kristofferson. He renders a dramatic picture of both an era of radical protest and the making of one of the most controversial and enduring works of political pop art of the 1960s.

A Heartbeat and a Guitar is the inspiration for the new album ＂Look Again to the Wind: Johnny Cash’s Bitter Tears revisited＂ featuring a collective of top Americana artists including Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Gillian Welch, and Kris Kristofferson.

Antonino D’Ambrosio is an author, filmmaker and visual artist. His books include A Heartbeat and A Guitar: Johnny Cash and the Making of Bitter Tears, Mayday with artist Shepard Fairey, and Let Fury Have the Hour. D’Ambrosio’s essays from the latter inspired his acclaimed feature length documentary feature film of the same name. D’Ambrosio’s writing appears in The New York Times, The Nation, The Progressive, The Believer, Salon.com, Moviemaker, Huffington Post, among others. D’Ambrosio’s film-work includes No Free Lunch starring comedian Lewis Black. He is the founder of the nonprofit La Lutta NMC, selected by The Nation as one of the top independent media groups. D’Ambrosio was New York University’s Gallatin Lecturer, an honor bestowed upon a contemporary artist creating innovative and social engaging work and Artist-In-Residence at the Center for Contemporary in Santa Fe, New Mexico where he produced the natural land art installation and multi- media project La Terra Promessa, which included the production of D’Ambrosio’s film series In Sun and Shadow. In 2014, Sony Music Masterworks released Look Again to the Wind: Johnny Cash’s Bitter Tears Revisited featuring Kris Kristofferson, Emmylou Harris and Steve Earle. Executive produced and with liner notes by D’Ambrosio, the record was inspired by D’Ambrosio’s book A Heartbeat and a Guitar. D’Ambrosio also produced, wrote and directed the documentary We’re Still Here: Johnny Cash’s Bitter Tears Revisited. to be released in Fall 2015 by PBS. D’Ambrosio is currently in production on feature length documentary Frank Serpico: Only Actions Count, produced by Gigantic Pictures. His newest book is The Free Space: How Creative-Response Transforms Our World.