A true maverick of her time, the Queen of Rockabilly, Wanda Jackson. She carried the swagger, the attitude, the rhythm guitar and the country swill shoved with confidence into the new brand of rock ‘n roll music which blossomed then caught like madfire in the 1950s. Seldom few women were given the leverage Jackson had in her time, at least to throw down with a snarl and a hint of trifling with her comes with a wicked price. She was girl power before such a thing ever existed.

One of Wanda’s bigger hits from the day, “I Gotta Know” appears in the opening scene of my story “Chickeerun” from Bringing in the Creeps. A game of vehicular death set in 1957 for which I culled an entire soundtrack of tunes from the day. I set out to make Rebel Without a Cause meets American Graffiti meets Stephen King’s Sometimes They Come Back, and Jackson’s twang and bangs her way over the outdoor dancing of the teen populace in my story.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.