J.D. Wilkes

J. D. Wilkes is an artist, musician and author currently living in Las Cruces. Originally from western Kentucky, Wilkes graduated with a degree in “studio art” from Murray State University, where he was a writer and cartoonist for the college paper. After moving to Nashville, he spent over 25 years touring internationally with his band. His comic strip Head Cheese appeared weekly in the Nashville RAGE for a three year run. Other publications include JUXTAPOZ, Alarm Magazine and Mineshaft, a magazine that features the latest work by famed cartoonist R. Crumb. During his Nashville years, Wilkes was often commissioned to create merch designs, album art and sideshow-styled backdrops for other acts. He even dabbled in film making with his “southern music” documentary Seven Signs, which premiered at London’s Raindance Film Festival. He is the author and illustrator of two books, Barn Dances and Jamborees Across Kentucky and The Vine That Ate the South, which NPR hailed as "undeniably one of the smartest, most original Southern Gothic novels to come along in years.”