Read my latest newsletter to learn about projects, albums, and writings for 2020 and into the new year. And: stay in touch! Subscribe!
Watch Live Performance of Many Hands
Last Friday, the Fuse Factory asked me to perform for their “Live Vids for Covid” series. You can watch the performance here, where I play selections from the first volume of Many Hands as a solo set. You can listen to and purchase the album here. Many thanks to the Fuse Factory for this opportunity!
Live Performance of "Many Hands" Friday, October 9, at 8:00 PM
I will be performing selections from last year’s album, Many Hands, live on Twitch for the Fuse Factory’s “Factory Streams” series this Friday, October 9, at 8:00. You can join in here. See you then!
September 2020 Newsletter: Where the Forest Meets the Field
Please read and sign up for my newsletter! This month: a nice article on "Forest Listening Rooms" from the National Forest Foundation, and updates on the "Art of Trees" project with the Gund Gallery at Kenyon College. You can find it here.
Visiting Artist at Kenyon College
I'm excited to be a visiting artist this year through the Gund Gallery at Kenyon College, where I'll be working with students and community members on socially distant sound walks and listening sessions for the "Art of Trees" project! We already had our first session this week, where we visited the Pine Grove at the The Brown Family Environmental Center:
http://www.thegundgallery.org/2020/08/visiting-artist-brian-harnetty-contributes-to-art-of-trees/
Forest Listening Rooms Featured in National Forest Foundation Article
Here is a nice article from the National Forest Foundation, featuring the recording and community work that I have been doing in the Wayne National Forest in Ohio. You can read it here.
2020 MAP Fund Grant Awarded for "Paris of the Coal Fields"
Very honored to be among so many other amazing artists and projects as a 2020 MAP Fund grantee: the grant will support a new project called “Paris of the Coal Fields” and will help me to continue working in Appalachian Ohio. You can read more about the grant here. Big thanks to The MAP Fund!
Tomorrow, June 5: Bandcamp Sales to Campaign Zero
Tomorrow (Friday, June 5) is another day where Bandcamp waives their fees in order to help out artists. In support of the recent protests against police brutality, I will be donating all proceeds from tomorrow’s sales from my Bandcamp page to Campaign Zero, a comprehensive platform of research-based policy solutions to end police brutality in America. I hope that you are all staying safe and well. I also hope you can find some small measure of joy, even in these terrible times.
In solidarity, Brian
Live Performance for Wex[EP] Series
I'll be live on YouTube this THURSDAY, MAY 14, at 5:30 (EST), as part of the Wexner Center for the Arts' "Essential Performances" series -- check it out!
I'll be sharing an "Archive Dive" where I take a deep plunge into "Jim," the first track from "Shawnee, Ohio." I'll also share a video made this past weekend visiting the town of Shawnee, a NEW solo performance of "Jim" in the Tecumseh Theater, and a live Q&A session.
UPDATE: Miss yesterday's Archive Dive (part of the Wex[EP] series)? You can watch the replay here (with a corrected link).
Podcast: In-Depth Interview on "The Star-Faced One" with Sun Ra Arkive
I had the pleasure of an in-depth talk with the Sun Ra Arkive about my 2013 album, “The Star-Faced One,” performing archives, and the creative process. You can tune in and listen to it here:
Many Hands Featured on the "Daily Stream" from the Wexner Center for the Arts
The Wexner Center for the Arts highlighted MANY HANDS in their “Daily Stream” — you can find the link here.
"Ohio Soundscapes" Symposium: March 28
I’ll be participating in a one-day symposium at Bowling Green State University on March 28, 2020. I’ll be talking about Forest Listening Rooms and socially engaged art in Appalachian Ohio. This event it open to the public.
Recent Publications: Art Journal and The Bloomsbury Handbook of Sound Art
It’s lovely to see two different publications featuring both recent and older work. Art Journal just published an article by Faye Gleisser that includes a deep dive on the sonic world of a project I contributed to in 2006 called “Topsy-Turvy.” You can learn more about the project here, and the link to the article can be found here. And, in the recently published Bloomsbury Handbook of Sound Art, Jeremy Woodruff contributed a chapter called “Composing Sociality,” which has a great discussion on my Forest Listening Rooms project (2018-present). You can find the book here.
February 2020 Newsletter - Band Camp Releases & Awards
A new newsletter is out now - please consider signing up to learn more about releases and events. This month: sharing three earlier albums, now on Bandcamp, and Mojo’s “Underground Album of the Year” — you can find it here.
In addition, I’m happy to announce that I received an Ohio Arts Council Individual Artist Excellence award, and am grateful for their continued support!
THREE Releases on Bandcamp
I've just put up three albums on Bandcamp -- all earlier releases from my Atavistic Records days: American Winter (2007, exploring the Berea Appalachian Sound Archives), Silent City (2009, featuring three tracks with Bonnie Prince Billy), and The Star-Faced One (2013, featuring the Sun Ra Archives and literally the best album cover of ever, by the great Damon Locks).
Also, with purchase of either American Winter or The Star-Faced One, you receive a free PDF score with full transcription of both music and spoken and sung text.
I hope these recordings resonate with you--check them out here!
SPECIAL NEWSLETTER: 2019 Year-in-Review
This year has been bananas. Full of highs and lows, and yet always part of a larger and deeper kind of celebration. So, here is a 2019 year-in-review: of projects and writings, press and travel. I hope you can find some joy in it, and I also hope you find much to celebrate in the new year. My best to you, Brian
"Shawnee, Ohio" is MOJO Magazine's "Underground Album of the Year"
It is an honor to have Shawnee, Ohio be named MOJO MAgazine’s “Underground Album of the Year” — many thanks to Andrew Male and to Karl Records. You can purchase the recording here.
Image courtesy of Poynter Photo.
December 2019 Newsletter - New Video and Loghaven Artist Residency
The most recent edition of my newsletter is out today - read more about my experiences at the Loghaven Artist Residency in Knoxville, and the latest Forest Listening Rooms Video - “Wildcat Hollow” - you can read it here and sign up to receive future newsletters!
Loghaven Artist Residency
This is both home and studio for the next week — it’s the most beautiful cabin I’ve ever been in (other than hitting my head on low doorways a few times!). So excited to be an artist in residence at Loghaven Artist Residency in Knoxville!
New Forest Listening Rooms Video - Wildcat Hollow
I’m pleased to share another video in the Forest Listening Rooms series. This time, I visit a group of local children for a sound walk, listening sessions, and discussion at Wildcat Hollow in the Wayne National Forest, Ohio, adjacent to the active Buckingham Coal Mines. They take a soundwalk together, and gather at a group of fallen mossy trees. They listen in silence together (no small feat), and immediately talk of what they heard: branches and birds, wind and voices, airplanes and industry. They then listen to music and archival recordings of children of past generations talking of mining. They finally tell their own stories, of their discoveries in the forest.