In Conversation with "King Coal" Filmmaker Elaine McMillion Sheldon

I'm so looking forward to watching this film on Friday evening at the Wexner Center for the Arts. Afterwords, I'll be joining the filmmaker Elaine McMillion Sheldon on stage for an in-depth conversation.

https://wexarts.org/film-video/king-coal

Live performance: 8/2/2023 with Attorneys General

I’m really looking forward to performing for Matthew Byars' live project called Attorneys General (and Matt is also well known for the excellent Essential Tremors Music Podcast) Wednesday night (tomorrow, August 2 at 8PM), along with Christopher Appel.

As far as I can tell, Matt will be live processing whatever I am playing and making something new from it -- so I have no idea what will happen, and that sounds great to me! Attorneys General has been moving across the country, and in each city has been working with some real heavy-hitters in my book (David Grubbs, Alan Licht, Ryley Walker, etc.) so I am especially excited for a Columbus show with Matt. I hope to see you there!

More info/tickets here:

WOSU Feature Article and Interview

I had a great conversation with Nick Booker from WOSU (Nick was recently in my “How To Perform an Archive” class at Ohio State University, and was really nice to talk with). You can listen to this conversation, read Nick’s article, and hear excerpts from Words and Silences. It was so nice to be featured on this station, one I’ve listened to since I was a kid.

Watch Now: Live From Thomas Merton's Hermitage

I’ve just published a live performance of the entire Words and Silences album, recorded at Thomas Merton’s Kentucky hermitage. The performance took place in November of 2022. The musicians are top-notch, and the setting is contemplative and beautiful.

Read more about the experience here.

Or, go directly to the video playlist here.

In the meantime, here is a nice photo with the band standing in front of the hermitage. (Photo by Kevin Davison.)

"Shawnee, Revisited" Video and Sound Installation at Errant Sound, Berlin

I am excited to have Shawnee, Revisited — a three channel video and sound installation — be a part of an exhibition at Errant Sound gallery in Berlin, Germany. Shawnee, Revisited (2018) is a 22 minute loop that shows the past and present of a small Appalachian mining town. Through contemporary footage (with Jonathan Johnson as videographer) and archival images, viewers get a sense of stillness and movement, and past and present. The audio features the voices of local residents, alongside sparse, long tones from a chamber ensemble. Part of an exhibition entitles “Sonic Borderlines,” there will also be a sound installation featured by Jeremy Woodruff. For more information and opening dates and times, click below:

This Saturday: Performing at the Seventh Stanine Festival in Washington, DC

I'll be performing a solo set this Saturday (6/10/2023) at 2:45pm at the Seventh Stanine Festival at Rhizome DC in Washington, DC. Really looking forward to it. You can read more through the link below. Many thanks to Essential Tremors for the invitation.

Forest Listening Rooms Soundwalks in West Virginia and at Ohio State

This past spring, I’ve had several opportunities to share Forest Listening Rooms with new communities at the Yew Mountain Center in West Virginia and on campus with students at Ohio State University. In both cases, I had extraordinary experiences, simply through paying attention and listening alongside such fascinating people. I’ve written about both experiences in my newsletter Sound Is Magic, and you can read about them both here:

Dusted Magazine Reviews "Words and Silences"

Many thanks to Dusted Magazine for an unexpected and amazing review of Words and Silences. Jason Bivins notes: “I found myself not just compelled but consoled by this music. Harnetty’s writing is pure, though never necessarily hymnal, and Merton’s generosity of spirit and his candor can be a balm.” You can read the entire review here.

Read My Latest Newsletter: "Words and Silences" on Phantom Power Podcast

I’ve produced a new podcast that explores my work with the Thomas Merton hermitage tapes. I made it in conjunction with Mack Hagood at Phantom Power, an excellent podcast about sound, listening, media, and sound studies. You can listen to it here:

Brian Harnetty on NPR's "Here and Now" (with Essential Tremors)

I was so excited to be on NPR today! I talked about an early influence on my music, Igor Stravinsky’s “Les Noces” on WBUR’s “Here and Now” along with Matthew Byers from the podcast Essential Tremors. What an honor! You can listen to it here.

Watch through April 13: In Conversation with Robin Wall Kimmerer

You can watch Robin Wall Kimmerer’s lecture at Otterbein University, followed by a conversation with Kimmerer, artist Cadine Navarro, and myself. (Our conversation starts around minute 58:00.) I hope you enjoy it — it was such a pleasure to talk with Kimmerer. She has so much to offer and teach!

In Conversation with Robin Wall Kimmerer and Cadine Navarro

Next Wednesday (March 29, 2023), Robin Wall Kimmerer will be giving a lecture at Otterbein University. After, artist Cadine Navarro and I will be joining her for an extended conversation on the “grammar of animacy,” our work, listening practices, and paying attention to the natural world around us. You can learn more below:

Introducing: Sound Is Magic Newsletter

I’ve started a new newsletter, called Sound Is Magic. In it, I explore sound, listening, music, and recordings. I’ll also share news and upcoming events. I hope you can join me!

New Phantom Power Podcast Episode on Thomas Merton Hermitage Tapes

I’m very proud of this one: I’ve made a new podcast for Phantom Power, a podcast on sound and sound studies. It’s an audio essay that explores my work with the Thomas Merton hermitage tapes. Listen below or wherever you get your podcasts.

Article for City Pulse Magazine: "Brian Harnetty Taps Into the Sounds of History and Nature"

I sat down with Melissa Starker from the Wexner Center for the Arts to talk about recent and upcoming projects, for City Pulse Magazine. Starting tomorrow and into April, I'll be working with high school students and taking them on sound walks around campus, as part of the Wexner Center's Department of Learning and Public Practice. It will be cold tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to it!

https://citypulsecolumbus.com/brian-harnetty-taps-into-the-sounds-of-history-and-nature/

Feature on Bandcamp Daily: "Brian Harnetty Make Present Music with Ghosts of the Past"

It is such an honor to have a feature article in Bandcamp Daily. A retrospective of past works, it begins with 2007’s American Winter and moves through to last year’s Words and Silences. I love Bandcamp, and I’m so happy that this article might help listeners connect the dots between albums, over the past 15+ years! You can read the full article here.

Explore: "Ohio Imprint" Exhibition Photos and Video

You can now view photos and video from the “Ohio Imprint” exhibition, currently running through March 26 at the Ross Art Museum at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio. If you are unable to attend in person, this documentation will help give you a sense of the project. You can learn/read/see/hear more below.

Listen: Art Restart Podcast

I’m so excited to see that a second great podcast in one week has come out, this time from Art Restart (from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts). I don’t have any control when the podcasts come out (they were recorded last year), but it occurrs to me that the two from the past week complement one another: If my interview with the The Sound School Podcast last week is focused on a single project — Forest Listening Rooms — then the Art Restart podcast takes a broader view, and we discuss early inspirations, sonic ethnography, working with communities, and the value and meaning that come from staying/sticking around.

I hope you can listen to them both Read more below, and listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Read a Review of Words and Silences from the Merton Seasonal

It’s not easy to reach two (or more) very different audiences. And yet, this always seems to be a very important goal each time I set out to make a new project. That’s why I am especially happy to see this review from the Merton Seasonal, an academic journal from the International Thomas Merton Society and the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University. I’m so glad that these scholars and Merton readers are interested and curious about Words and Silences, and it also makes me happy to imagine the Venn diagram with readers of MOJO and The Wire in one circle, and readers of the Merton Seasonal in another sharing the same interest in Merton’s words and the music here. You can read this lovely and thoughtful review from Julianne E. Wallace here.

Now Through March 26: "Ohio Imprint" at Ross Art Museum

If you are in central Ohio, you can visit this exhibition at the Ross Art Museum at Ohio Wesleyan University. It features seven photographs by Dick Arentz and seven corresponding videos and field recordings from me. It explores themes of place, labor, history, and human's ecological imprint. Learn more about the project here: