NEW ALBUM - "MANY HANDS (VOL. 2)" - Early Release for Subscribers

EARLY RELEASE FOR SUBSCRIBERS: MANY HANDS (VOLUME TWO) ON BANDCAMP

During this unprecedented time of Covid-19, I hope that you are all staying well. I find myself caring for others, experiencing the highs and lows of parenthood, stemming off the anxieties of the unknown, and swaying back and forth between relishing solitude and craving connection.

With this in mind, I wanted to share with you a new collection of piano pieces, *volume two* of a series called Many Hands. Here, the music (to my mind) reflects on thoughts about care labor, and I hope this music might help you find some solace.

The album's official release is next week, but subscribers to this mailing list can listen to and purchase it now on Bandcamp. And, like the previous album, a PDF score is included with purchase, for those of you who enjoy reading/playing along.

Here is more information on Many Hands (Volume Two):
Careworn, delicate, intricate, tender, quiet: even the loud parts are gentle and under this spell. This is the second volume in a series of piano works for multiple players. If the first volume of Many Hands was inspired by the landscapes and labor of Appalachian Ohio, the theme of labor is shared here, with a special focus on “care labor”: the work done quietly and selflessly by unnoticed parents and nurses and social workers and teachers and artists, too. 

This concern for care labor is not structurally built into the music; it was just on my mind at the time of composing. And it is on my mind now during the Covid-19 quarantine as I think of my own family, and of the work happening all over the world both out in the open of our hospitals and behind the hidden walls of our homes.

In fact, the image on the cover of the recording––of two hands, side by side––is of my hand and my father’s hand from around 1979, and it reminds me of the endless and overwhelming and grueling and honorable and magical work of parenting. It also reminds me of my father's once great physical strength, now tempered as he approaches 90, and how he is now counted among the most vulnerable in these times. Ideally, this is how I would love to see our society structured: with the most vulnerable placed at the center, protected and cared for, and the care would radiate out in circles and rings of strength and support.
 

NEW CRITICAL WRITING ON FOREST LISTENING ROOMS AND TOPSY-TURVY

Back in 2006, I made a soundtrack to Jacqueline Tarry and Bradley McCallum's film/installation "Topsy Turvy" at the New York Historical Society, where I sampled old recordings from the Library of Congress. And now Faye Gleisser has written about it in Art Journal, where she includes a thoughtful deep dive into the project's sonic world, with a focus on sound, sound recordings, and race. You can find a link to the article here, or if you do not have access, feel free to contact me and I can send you a pdf.

In addition, you can also learn more and listen to excerpts here:
 

Jeremy Woodruff wrote a lovely chapter on "Composing Sociality" for the Bloomsbury Handbook of Sound Art, which includes a section on my project Forest Listening Rooms -- I'm so glad to be a part of this chapter and book, and in the context of many artists that I greatly admire. You can find the book here, and again, if you are unable to have access, you can contact me and I can send the chapter to you. 

You can learn more about Forest Listening Rooms and watch videos here:
 

Once again, stay safe and find ways to care for yourselves and others. And as always, thank you for all of your support, and my best to you, Brian

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