In July of this year I had the honour and pleasure of participating in the University of Sussex graduation ceremony at which the great English folk singer Shirley Collins was awarded an honorary doctorate. In the days leading up to the ceremony, as I prepared the speech I had been asked to give ahead of… Continue reading And the larks they sang melodious: a Shirley Collins appreciation
Tag: song
Of Constant Sorrow: Ralph Stanley 1927-2016
Old-time musician Ralph Stanley has died. This morning, I'm too upset by the monumentally stupid decision my fellow Brits have collectively made to say more about Stanley, so I'll just note a deep appreciation of his music and post a link to the chapter I wrote about him for my book The Late Voice. As soon… Continue reading Of Constant Sorrow: Ralph Stanley 1927-2016
Life soundtracker: Guy Clark (6/11/1941 – 17/05/2016)
Another great musician has gone. Unlike many of the other deaths of musicians this year, Guy Clark's passing does not come as a great surprise. Anyone who had been following his progress in recent years knew he'd had a tough time health-wise and that he hadn't been in great shape for a while. Clark was… Continue reading Life soundtracker: Guy Clark (6/11/1941 – 17/05/2016)
Upcoming presentation: ‘A Blank Space Where You Write Your Name’
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’
New article on Van Morrison published
My article 'My Tongue Gets t-t-t-: Words, Sense, and Vocal Presence in Van Morrison’s It’s Too Late to Stop Now' has been published in a special issue of the journal Twentieth-Century Music on 'Voice'. ABSTRACT: Van Morrison’s live version of his song ‘Cyprus Avenue’ on the 1974 album It’s Too Late to Stop Now provides… Continue reading New article on Van Morrison published
Upcoming presentation: ‘Excavating “Coimbra”: Genealogy, Nostalgia, and the Material Life of a Portuguese popular song’
I will be presenting a paper at the 18th biennial IASPM conference in Campinas, Brazil, on 30 June. My paper is entitled 'Excavating "Coimbra": Genealogy, Nostalgia, and the Material Life of a Portuguese popular song' and the abstract is below. This paper uses the story of a particular song, the Portuguese fado ‘Coimbra’, as a… Continue reading Upcoming presentation: ‘Excavating “Coimbra”: Genealogy, Nostalgia, and the Material Life of a Portuguese popular song’
Upcoming symposium: Singing Places
Friday 22 November, University of Sussex Organisers: Richard Elliott and Sally Jane Norman The interweaving of song and place as a resonant cultural identifier offers a richly interdisciplinary research focus. Music, sonic arts, cultural anthropology, and human geography feature amongst disciplines mobilised by this domain, which is also strongly invested by a range of creative… Continue reading Upcoming symposium: Singing Places
Late Voice 