I will be participating in a panel with Emily Baker, Ian Biddle and Freya Jarman at the EMP Pop Conference in Seattle. Our panel is on Sunday 17 April and my paper is entitled 'A Blank Space Where You Write Your Name: Taylor Swift’s Early Late Voice'. Abstract below. Taylor Swift’s songs invite listeners to… Continue reading Upcoming presentation: ‘A Blank Space Where You Write Your Name’
Tag: late voice
Thoughts on Merle Haggard
Merle Haggard has died. In a year already rife with notable deaths in the music industry, I felt this one deeply, for reasons both objective and subjective. Objectively, Haggard was a colossal figure in country music, as a singer, songwriter, hitmaker and soundmaker (by which I mean there is particular country sound that is distinctive… Continue reading Thoughts on Merle Haggard
New article on Patti Smith published
My essay 'Words from the New World: Adventure and Memory in Patti Smith’s Late Voice’ has been published in the book Patti Smith: Outside, edited by Claude Chastagner (Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée, 2015). ABSTRACT: Patti Smith’s late work is invariably connected by critics and fans to the work of her ‘classic’ era (the 1970s… Continue reading New article on Patti Smith published
Upcoming presentation: ‘All You See Is Glory’: The Burden of Stardom and the Tragedy of Nina Simone
I will be presenting a paper at the IASPM Australia New Zealand Branch Conference at the Australian National University, Canberra, on 5 December. My paper is entitled '"All You See Is Glory": The Burden of Stardom and the Tragedy of Nina Simone' and the abstract is below. Although most often remembered as an icon of… Continue reading Upcoming presentation: ‘All You See Is Glory’: The Burden of Stardom and the Tragedy of Nina Simone
New book: The Late Voice
This week sees the publication of my third book, The Late Voice: Time, Age and Experience in Popular Music. The book is being published by Bloomsbury Academic initially in a hardback edition. A cheaper paperback edition will be published at a later date. From the book's blurb: "Popular music artists, as performers in the public… Continue reading New book: The Late Voice
New publication: “Across the Evening Sky”: The Late Voices of Sandy Denny, Judy Collins and Nina Simone
My essay 'Across the Evening Sky: The Late Voices of Sandy Denny, Judy Collins and Nina Simone' has been published in the book Gender, Age and Musical Creativity, edited by Catherine Haworth and Lisa Colton (Ashgate, 2015). ABSTRACT: This chapter explores the work of three female musicians – Sandy Denny, Judy Collins and Nina Simone… Continue reading New publication: “Across the Evening Sky”: The Late Voices of Sandy Denny, Judy Collins and Nina Simone
Upcoming talk: Won’t You Spare Me Over Til Another Year?
'Won't You Spare Me Over Til Another Year?: Age, Death and Deferral in Old-Time Music'I'll be presenting current work as part of the Research in Progress series at the School of Media, Film and Music, University of Sussex, on Wednesday 26 February at 4pm. Details here. In this talk I'll present material from the book… Continue reading Upcoming talk: Won’t You Spare Me Over Til Another Year?
Across the evening sky
the need for reflection, for making sense of our transient condition, is time's paradoxical gift to us, and possibly the best consolation for its ultimate power Eva Hoffman, Time (Profile, 2011), p. 11
I wish I had a heart like this. I wish I had that heart making circle after circle as when, in childhood, I sent stones skipping over the water, skipping over. The rest of your life is headed your way! Ko Un, 'At Eunpa Reservoir' (First Person Sorrowful)
Upcoming talk: Across the Evening Sky
I'll be presenting my paper 'Across the Evening Sky: Real and Anticipated Experience in Nina Simone's Late Voice' at the School of Media, Film and Music Research in Progress seminar, University of Sussex, on 13 February at 4pm. I gave a previous version of this paper at the University of Huddersfield's 'Gender, Musical Creativity and… Continue reading Upcoming talk: Across the Evening Sky
Late Voice 