At 81, Swannanoa’s Billy Edd Wheeler Is Going Strong

Swannanoa’s Billy Edd Wheeler doesn’t let a lot of grass grow under his feet. At 81 years young, he keeps up a pace that Billy Edd Wheeler would wear out a lot of folks half his age. The Asheville Citizen-Times recently profiled Billy Edd in a feature article that described him as a “prolific songwriter, painter, novelist, playwright and more . . . .” Billy Edd is perhaps best known for his hit song “Jackson,” which won grammy awards for Johnny Cash and June Carter. But he’s written many other well-known songs (including “Coward of the County,” which was recorded by Kenny Rogers and inspired a 1981 movie of the same name), as well as plays, musicals, a folk opera, and a number of books. Oh, and did we mention that he’s also a woodcarver!? Billy Edd’s current project is a screenplay based on his novel “A Song to Kill For.” To learn more about Billy Edd and his fascinating life story, please click here for the Asheville Citizen-Times article. To visit Billy Edd’s website (where you can see some of his paintings, order music CDs, etc.), please click here.