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
Tag: transience
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’
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
On transience
The proneness to decay of all that is beautiful and perfect can, as we know, give rise to two different impulses in the mind. The one leads to the aching despondency felt by the young poet, while the other leads to rebellion against the fact asserted. No! It is impossible that all this loveliness of… Continue reading On transience
Late Voice 