Tomorrow (Thursday 5/14), I'll be on our local PBS station (WOSU), with a segment on Broad and High! Watch a preview below, and then tune in this Thursday at 8pm on WOSU TV, HULU + live and YouTube TV.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTMIE6bw5fo
"Mort and Dot" -- A New EP Out Today
"Mort and Dot" is out today--An EP of ten piano pieces that are loosely inspired by my grandparents' old sheet music. And, if you like to play the piano, a PDF of the score comes with it so you can play along. Have a listen!
https://brianharnetty.bandcamp.com/album/mort-and-dot
Contribution to "Archival Entanglements" Out this Fall
I’ve written a chapter, called “Forest Listening Rooms,” which is for a new edited volume of essays, Archival Entanglements. It will be published this September, on The Ohio State University Press. Learn more about the project here:
New Essay Series and EP: "Mort and Dot"
Over the month of April, I'll be posting new tracks and stories from a new album of piano music called "Mort and Dot" -- based on my grandparents' old sheet music. You can read about it in my newsletter here:
"This Was Once a Forest" Opens at MOCA Cleveland
The sound and video installation “This Was Once a Forest, This Was Once a Sea” opened this weekend at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland. It is part of the “Ohio Now” exhibit, which features artists from across the state, all of whom are focused on issues of environment and senses of place in Ohio. The exhibition will be up through May 31. I hope that you can go see and hear it! You can learn more about the exhibition here: https://www.mocacleveland.org/exhibitions/ohio-now
Ohio Arts Council's 2026 Individual Excellence Award
I’m excited to announce that I was among the winners of an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award for 2026. Many congratulations to all of the other winners! You can read more about the awards here:
https://oac.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/art/home/news-and-events/all-news/iea-fy-2026
2025 Year-in-Review
If you would like to learn about the music, art, and writing projects I’ve been working on this past year, please take a look at my latest newsletter. It has been a meaningful year, despite all of its hardships. Thanks to everyone that I’ve talked with and worked with!
Visiting Berea College on November 6 (12-1 pm)
I’m excited to visit Berea College this week, and talk about my new book Noisy Memory. Two of the chapters of the book deal with my time at Berea and the projects that came out of those experiences. I hope you can join us!
Image from the GCAC.
Finalist for the Greater Columbus Arts Council Artist Elevated Award
Last week, I was honored to be a finalist for the Artist Elevated Award from the Greater Columbus Arts Council, which recognizes artists and their career growth, creativity, and artistic vision. I was happy to be at the awards ceremony at the National Veterans Memorial museum in Columbus, Ohio. Congrats to the winners!
Listen to the Art of the Rural Podcast
I’ve loved what Art of the Rural has been doing and making for a long time now, and I’m so glad I got to spend time talking with their founder and Executive Director Matthew Fluharty on the Art of the Rural Podcast. His insights into my new book Noisy Memory (published with UNC Press) are wonderful, and I’m grateful for the opportunity. You can listen to the podcast below!
Look/Listen to a New Project: The House
It feels strange to keep sharing intimate projects about my family, but I think there is something in them that others might see and hear that connects to the bigger ideas and feelings that run through them. So, here is the release of a brand new piece called “The House” – it is 10 minutes long, and has recordings of my parents’ house along with a string quartet and our family’s old piano. I hope that you can watch and listen to it. Many thanks to the GCAC for their support for this project. You can also learn more by reading an essay about it here: https://brianharnetty.substack.com/p/looklisten-to-a-new-project-the-house
Feature Interview in The Brooklyn Rail
In the October 2025 issue of the Brooklyn Rail, I had an interview with the musician and author John P. Hastings about my new book Noisy Memory. We talked about working with archives, my process of composing, and about the social fabric of Appalachian Ohio. You can read it here:
"Art and the Environment" Series at the Ross Art Museum
I will be giving a public talk called “Sound, Listening, and the Environment” as part of a series at the Ross Art Museum at Ohio Wesleyan University. It takes place this evening (September 23) at 6:30pm. For more details, visit here.
"Noisy Memory" Book and Album Out Today!
Both the book and the companion compilation digital album for Noisy Memory: Recording Sound, Performing Archives are out today. You can purchase the book at the University of North Carolina Press website, or on my Bandcamp page (where you can also get the music that accompanies the book). I am so excited to share them with you, and hope that you enjoy them!
Author Reading at Two Dollar Radio HQ on 8/27
Join me for an author reading one week from today -- Come to Two Dollar Radio Headquarters in Columbus on Wednesday 8/27 at 8:00pm to celebrate the publication of Noisy Memory. More info below:
https://twodollarradiohq.com/event/2025-08-27/author-reading-brian-harnetty
Listen Now: Episode 2 of the Sound Is Magic Podcast
You can now listen to the second episode of the Sound Is Magic podcast, on Substack or any other podcast service that you use. This week, I discuss the connections between silence, memory, family, and place. I also do a deep dive into the album Silent City (2009), which features three tracks with the singer Will Oldham. Listen below:
Introducing the Sound Is Magic Podcast - Listen Now!
To celebrate the publication of my book Noisy Memory (out on 8/26 with UNC Press), I decided to make a 5-part podcast that explores the themes and sounds from the book. Here is the first episode, where I traveled to Berea, Kentucky, and where I learned how to listen to archives:
First Pre-Publication Review of Noisy Memory, from Library Journal
Brian Harnetty, This Was Once a Forest, This Was Once a Sea. Installation view, Ohio Now: State of Nature. Photo: Wes Battoclette, 2025. Image courtesy of the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH.
View photos from "The Was Once a Forest" at the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati
The video and sound installation This Was Once a Forest, This Was Once a Sea is now up and running at the Contemporary Arts Center Cincinnati through September 7, 2025. If you are in the area, please visit! It is part of the group show called Ohio Now: State of Nature, and it sits proudly alongside many other Ohio artists’ works. To learn more about this project, visit here.
This Was Once a Forest: On Glacial Grooves, Old-Growth Forests, and Ancient Seabeds
For my latest newsletter, I wrote about an exciting group exhibition opening this Friday (May 2, from 7-10pm) at the Contemporary Arts Center Cincinnati called "Ohio Now: State of Nature." I have a new sound/video installation exploring three different places and time periods in Ohio. If you are in Cincinnati this Friday, I hope to see you there! Read the newsletter here.