Today is the official publication date for my new book Noisy Memory: Recording Sound, Performing Archives with the University of North Carolina Press. I’ve been sending out a lot of messages about this project recently, and many thanks to all of you who have shared kind words and have supported this work. It has always been my goal for this project to make something that is both smart and readable, and also something that is particular/personal and at the same time taps into something more universal.
There is a flurry of news about this book that I’d like to share:
UNC Press is having a sale that ends tonight, where they are offering 50% off of my book (and their entire catalog). Just use the code 01NEWSITE50 when checking out.
At the same time, I am now offering Noisy Memory over on Bandcamp, alongside a compilation album of music discussed in the book. Each track in the compilation is an important part of the book. Three of the recordings ("He Is Knocking," "Girl I Left Behind," and "Tarry With Me") are the original archival recordings from the Berea Appalachian Sound Archives. The other tracks highlight the different archives I've worked with over the past 20 years, and the albums that I made from them. Two of the tracks ("Sleeping In the Driveway," and "Some Glad Day") feature the singing of Will Oldham.
I also recently sat down with Andy Downing from Matter News, a wonderful publication from the town where I live, Columbus, Ohio. We talked about the book, as well as the past two decades of making music and albums. If interested, I would encourage you to check it out — I loved talking with Andy, and he did a wonderful job writing about the book (by the way, Matter News is an invaluable resource, and I’m so glad independent journalism still exists here in Columbus, however tenuously).
Here is a quote from the article:
“I really thought 25 years ago I would end up in some big, fancy city,” Harnetty said. “I had gone to grad school in Europe, and I thought I was going to stay there but didn’t. And every time I thought I would leave or something might change, I focused back on local issues or the friendships I had here, which resulted in all these odd left turns. Things became distinctly more rural, and all these things I hadn’t been interested in when I was in my early 20s – my own family history, the history of Appalachia – I just kept following them. And I think what that did was take me away from what those original dreams were, in some way, but toward something more fulfilling. The work now is rooted in my own stories, my family’s stories, the region’s stories. And I think it gives me something more to offer.”
And finally, tomorrow evening (Wednesday, August 27), I’ll be doing a reading from the book in-person at the Two Dollar Radio Headquarters (at 8:00pm) here in Columbus. If you are nearby, I hope you can join me! I’ll have copies of the book there as well.
As always, thank you so much for listening and for your support – it really means a lot.
Brian