One of Emory University’s Center For Ethics’ aims is to bring thoughtful people together in conversation, to talk through their efforts to be conscientious with their endeavors in a creative discipline.
Beyond giving honest credits, how does one acknowledge, even honor the artists and cultural traditions that any artist inevitably relies upon in generating their own work? David Harrington of Kronos Quartet and John Fenn of American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, discuss “The Ethics of Inspiration: Honoring Ancestors and Influences.”
This event arose from the thought that “appropriation” is a term used to mark a failure of appropriately acknowledging one’s creative sources, where “appropriate” might involve showing respect for, being generous with, even honoring the source, whether a person or a tradition. This moderated conversation is free to attend.
Thursday, January 23. 7-8 p.m. Emory University’s Rita Anne Rollins Bldg., 1531 Dickey Drive, Room 252. Click here to RSVP.
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Tucker Riggleman & the Cheap Dates. Photo by Corbin Lanker
The current lineup of Tucker Riggleman & the Cheap Dates calls a sprawling stretch of Appalachian terrain home. Drummer M. Tivis Clark hails from Lexington, KY. Bass player Mason Fanning lives in Morgantown, WV, and singer and guitar player Tucker Riggleman resides in nearby Fairmont, WV. With their latest album, Restless Spirit (WarHen Records), the group weaves a haunting blend of country grit and punk energy with a Southern-gothic ambiance. The raw honesty that binds songs such as “Shotgun,” “Bucket and the Boot,” and the album’s title track strikes a balance between traditional and contemporary regional sounds, turning the solitude of mountain living into a call for connection and resilience.
Restless Spirit was produced by Grammy-nominated Duane Lundy, who has worked with everyone from Kevn Kinney of Drivin N Cryin and Sturgill Simpson to Michael McDonald, Bela Fleck, and dozens of other artists. Together, Lundy and the Cheap Dates capture an electrifying blend of alt-country and indie rock.
Atlanta-based Americana punks Reconciler, Birmingham’s the Williamson Brothers (feat. Blake and Adam Williamson of Lee Baines & the Glory Fires), and Former Sinners of the Future (a new band featuring mixed media artist Jeremy Ray) also perform.
Guitar player and composer Jeff Parker is perhaps best known for his contributions to contemporary jazz, experimental music, and post-rock as a long-standing member of the group Tortoise. Parker has also flourished through countless solo outings and collaborations with acts including the Chicago Underground Quartet, Isotope 217, and the New Breed. His latest endeavor, the ETA IVtet, is a Los Angeles-based outfit featuring drummer Jay Bellerose, double bassist Anna Butterss, and alto saxophonist Josh Johnson.
In November, Parker and the ETA IVtet unveiled their second album, The Way Out of Easy, on International Anthem Recording Company. The record showcases Parker’s signature blend of adventurous improvisation, harmonic sophistication, and a deep groove, seamlessly bridging tradition and experimentation.
The group takes its name from the L.A. bar where they held a weekly residency from 2016 until it closed in December 2024.
With The Way Out of Easy, Parker and Co. reaffirm their place as formidable players at the forefront of contemporary music, pushing boundaries while remaining rooted in timeless expression via four improvised pieces bearing titles such as “Freakadelic,” “Late Autumn,” the album’s title track, and “Chrome Dome.” Press play below.
Photo courtesy The Chunklet Music Preservation Project.
Since forming the The Chunklet Music Preservation Project in 2022, Henry Owings has gathered a massive arsenal of rich and oftentimes overlooked Georgia and Southern musical history from Reconstruction times to the chitlin circuit, college rock, punk, hardcore, hip-hop, and beyond. More than 26,000 postcards, photographs, flyers, newspaper ads, and more have been scanned and added to the Chunklet archive.
This Saturday, December 21, Ella Guru Records will host an unveiling of a limited-edition postcard set documenting Nirvana’s first Atlanta show on May 6, 1990 in Heaven at the Masquerade. The 12-postcard set offers a snapshot of Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Chad Channing’s fiery ascent. This was Nirvana pre-Dave Grohl, performing on one of Atlanta’s most storied stages.
“I’ve been fortunate to scan over 26,000 pieces of primarily Southern ephemera, and when special things come across the scan bed, I tend to take note,” Owings says.
“So I have any one of a number of collections that I’ve been given permission to use: R.E.M. at Piedmont Park ‘82, the B-52’s at Memorial Hall ‘78, Talking Heads at the Agora. But I just thought to myself if I can do this concept with any band it’s Nirvana—or the Beatles, but that’s impossibly rare—and let’s just see how it either comes together or falls apart. I’m curious to see how it does.”
Victoria Nicholson, a Wax ‘n’ Facts alum and music superfan, was at the show with her point-and-shoot camera, capturing eleven ethereal photos of Nirvana from the side of the stage.
Photo courtesy The Chunklet Music Preservation Project.
Heaven in the Masquerade’s original location was around a 1,000-1,300 capacity venue. It is estimated that 150-200 people were in attendance for this show. It was a from the sold-out arenas the band would soon command on the heels of releasing Nevermind.
Kelly Stringer, another attendee that night, had the foresight to snag a flyer off the wall and a small calendar advertising upcoming shows at the Masquerade. Together, these artifacts tell the story of a band on the brink of stardom, performing for a crowd that barely filled the room at the Masquerade’s former North Avenue location.
Owings has restored these relics, compiling them into a machine-numbered edition of 50 postcards with a restored version of the flyer.
Stop by Ella Guru from noon to 3 p.m. and grab a set—along with a margarita or two. All proceeds benefit the Chunklet Music Preservation Project.
Thurston Moore at the Tara Theater. Photo by Jeff Shipman
A fun and dynamic evening unfolded at the Tara Theater on Tuesday, December 10, as Thurston Moore appeared in conversation with yours truly, Atlanta music writer Chad Radford.
Introduced by Randy Gue, Assistant Director of Collection Development & Curator of Political, Cultural, & Social Movements for Emory University’s Rose Library, and presented by A Cappella Books, the night was anchored by Moore’s 2023 memoir, Sonic Life. He also reflected on a career that reshaped the alternative and underground musical landscapes of the 1980s, ‘90s, and beyond. In a candid exchange, Moore opened up about the forces that inspired Sonic Youth, navigating the post-punk and no wave underbelly of New York City and the ferocious hardcore emanating from Los Angeles in the early 1980s.
Moore also relived heading out on the road with his Sonic Youth bandmates–Lee Ranaldo, Kim Gordon, and original drummer Bob Bert–for their first out-of-town trek. The “Savage Blunder Tour” carried Sonic Youth and Swans from New York to Atlanta culminating with a deranged performance at the legendary 688 Club.
Later, Moore revealed how writing Sonic Life freed up his mental space, and paved the way into a new creative chapter. His latest album under his name, Flow Critical Lucidity, stands as a testament to this state of mind, blending his signature dissonant guitar textures, rhythms, and space with introspective clarity.
The conversation ranged from the personal to the esoteric, touching on topics like the divisive Faith/Void split 12-inch on Dischord Records, a perennial argument-starter among D.C.’s hardcore purests. Moore’s infectious enthusiasm for such musical touchstones reminded everyone why he remains a revered cultural figure.
Moore also recounted Sonic Youth’s participation in Stuart Swezey’s legendary Desolation Center concert series, playing the 1985 Gila Monster Jamboree in the Mojave Desert. He described the surreal experience of channeling their avant-garde energy into a setting as raw and untamed as the music itself. This set the stage for the night’s closing event: a screening of “Desolation Center,” the documentary that chronicles Swezey’s revolutionary desert concerts.
The evening offered a rare chance to glimpse into Moore’s world through his own words and to explore the intersections of music, memory, and creative reinvention.
Check out a gallery of images from the evening below.
Thurston Moore. Photo by Jeff ShipmanPhoto by Jeff ShipmanPhoto by Jeff ShipmanPhoto by Jeff ShipmanRandy Gue. Photo by Jeff ShipmanSonic LifeSonic LifeSonic LifeThurston Moore photo by Laura HuntChad Radford (left) and Thurston Moore. Photo by Jeff ShipmanThurston Moore and Chad Radford. Photo by Todd PloharskiThurston Moore. Photo by Jeff ShipmanChad Radford (left) and Thurston Moore. Photo by Todd PloharskiThurston Moore. Photo by Jeff ShipmanThurston Moore with his dogs Apollo and Vinkenoog. Photo by Jeff Shipman Chad Radford (left) and Thurston Moore. Photo by Jeff ShipmanPhoto by Todd PloharskiChad Radford (left) and Thurston Moore. Photo by Jeff ShipmanThurston Moore (left) and Chad Radford. Photo by Kristin Anderson“Dirty!” Photo by Chad Radford
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From the founding member of Sonic Youth, a passionate memoir tracing the author’s life and art—from his teen years as a music obsessive in small-town Connecticut, to the formation of his legendary rock group, to 30 years of creation, experimentation, and wonder.
Following the conversation, The Tara will host a screening of director Stuart Swezey’s documentary film, Desolation Center, featuring performances by Sonic Youth, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Swans, Redd Kross, Einstürzende Neubauten, and more. Moore will introduce the film.
A note on the THREE types of tickets available for this event:
Book Talk Ticket Includes a signed paperback edition of Sonic Life and admission for the 7 p.m. book talk and signing. ($20 + tax)
Book Talk and Movie Ticket Includes a signed paperback edition of Sonic Life, admission for the 7 p.m. book talk and signing, and the 8:30 p.m. screening of Desolation Center. ($36 + tax)
Movie Ticket Admission to the 8:30 p.m. screening of Desolation Center. ($16 + tax)
About the Book Thurston Moore moved to Manhattan’s East Village in 1978 with a yearning for music. He wanted to be immersed in downtown New York’s sights and sounds—the feral energy of its nightclubs, the angular roar of its bands, the magnetic personalities within its orbit. But more than anything, he wanted to make music—to create indelible sounds that would move, provoke, and inspire.
His dream came to life in 1981 with the formation of Sonic Youth, a band Moore co-founded with Kim Gordon and Lee Ranaldo. Sonic Youth became a fixture in New York’s burgeoning No Wave scene—an avant-garde collision of art and sound, poetry and punk. The band would evolve from critical darlings to commercial heavyweights, headlining festivals around the globe while helping introduce listeners to such artists as Nirvana, Hole, and Pavement and playing alongside such icons as Neil Young and Iggy Pop. Through it all, Moore maintained an unwavering love of music: the new, the unheralded, the challenging, the irresistible.
In the spirit of Just Kids, Sonic Life offers a window into the trajectory of a celebrated artist and a tribute to an era of explosive creativity. It presents a firsthand account of New York in a defining cultural moment, a history of alternative rock as it was birthed and came to dominate airwaves, and a love letter to music, whatever the form. This is a story for anyone who has ever felt touched by sound—who knows the way the right song at the right moment can change the course of a life.
About the Author Thurston Moore is a founding member of Sonic Youth, a band born in New York in 1981 that spent 30 years at the vanguard of alternative rock, influencing and inspiring such acts as Nirvana, Pavement, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, My Bloody Valentine, and Beck. The band’s album Daydream Nation was chosen by the Library of Congress for historical preservation in the National Recording Registry in 2006. Moore is involved in publishing and poetry and teaches at the Summer Writing Workshop at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. He divides his time between the USA and England.
About the Film Desolation Center is the previously untold story of a series of early ’80s guerrilla music and art performance happenings in Southern California that are recognized to have inspired Burning Man, Lollapalooza, and Coachella, collective experiences that have become key elements of popular culture in the 21st century. The feature documentary splices interviews and rare performance footage of Sonic Youth, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Swans, Redd Kross, Einstürzende Neubauten, Survival Research Laboratories, Savage Republic and more, documenting a time when pushing the boundaries of music, art, and performance felt almost like an unspoken obligation.
Directed by Stuart Swezey, the creator and principal organizer of these unique events, Desolation Center demonstrates how the risky, and at times even reckless, actions of a few outsiders can unintentionally lead to seismic cultural shifts. Combining Swezey’s exclusive access to never-before-seen archival video, live audio recordings, and stills woven together with new cinematically shot interviews, verité footage and animated sequences, Desolation Center captures the spirit of the turbulent times from which these events emerged.
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The definitive biography of MF Doom, charting the reclusive and revered hip-hop artist and super villain’s life, career, and ultimately immortality.
Criminal Records and A Cappella Books welcome revered music journalist and author Skiz Fernando Jr. for a conversation about his highly-anticipated new book, The Chronicles of Doom: Unraveling Rap’s Masked Iconoclast, on Sunday, November 3, at 2 p.m. The author will speak with RadATL’sChad Radford, music journalist and author of Atlanta Record Stores: An Oral History.
About the Book
On December 31, 2020, the world was shocked to learn about the death of hip-hop legend MF Doom. Born in London and raised in the suburban enclave of Long Beach, New York, Daniel Dumile Jr.’s love of cartoons and comic books would soon turn him into one of hip-hop’s most enigmatic, prolific, and influential figures.
Sweeping and definitive, The Chronicles of Doom: Unraveling Rap’s Masked Iconoclast recounts the rise, fall, redemption, and demise of MF Doom. Broken down into five sections: The Man, The Myth, The Mask, The Music, and The Legend, journalist S. H. Fernando, or Skiz, chronicles the life of Daniel Dumile Jr., beginning in the house he grew up in in Long Beach, NY, into the hip-hop group KMD, onto the stage of his first masked show, through the countless collabs, and across the many different cities Daniel called home, including Atlanta. Centering the music, Skiz lays out the history of east-coast rap against Doom’s life story and dissects the personas, projects, tracks, and lyrics that led to his immortality.
Including exclusive interviews with those who worked closely with Doom and providing an unknown, intimate, behind-the-scenes look into Doom’s life, The Chronicles of Doom is the definitive biography of MF Doom, a supervillain on stage and hero to those who paid attention.
About the Author
After graduating from Harvard and the Columbia University School of Journalism, Skiz Fernando began his career as a music journalist for The Source magazine. He parlayed his expertise in the field of hip-hop into the critically acclaimed book, The New Beats: Exploring the Music, Culture & Attitudes of Hip-Hop (Anchor/Doubleday, 1994), which has become an essential document of the culture behind rap music. His byline has also appeared in such publications as The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Vibe.
In 2007, he returned to his homeland of Sri Lanka to write a cookbook, Rice & Curry: Sri Lankan Home Cooking (Hippocrene Books, 2011). It was a New York Times notable cookbook and won Fernando a spot on the popular Travel Channel show No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain, where he served as the host’s on-camera guide in Sri Lanka.
Since the pandemic, Fernando has returned to writing. His most recent book, From The Streets of Shaolin: The Wu-Tang Saga (2021), was the definitive biography of hip-hop’s greatest group. His biography of MF Doom, The Chronicles of Doom: Unraveling Rap’s Masked Iconoclast (Astra House), is available in the fall of 2024.
The talk will be followed by a Q&A and a book signing.
Free. 2 p.m. Copies of The Chronicles of Doom will be available for purchase at the store.
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SMOKE & FICTION: From left, DJ Bonebrake, Exene Cervenka, John Doe, and Billy Zoom of the band X. Photo by Gilbert Trejo
X takes the stage at Variety Playhouse this Sunday, October 27, as part of the group’s farewell tour, supporting their latest—and final—album, Smoke & Fiction. It’s the culmination of a long legacy in red-blooded American punk and rock ‘n’ roll, featuring the original lineup of singer Exene Cervenka, singer and bass player John Doe, guitar player Billy Zoom, and drummer DJ Bonebrake. Since forming in the summer of ‘77, X has stood as the cornerstone of Los Angeles’ first-wave punk scene. Now, 47 years later, the group is taking one last bow.
Smoke & Fiction’s June 2024 release arrived with news that the band was hanging it up for good. The album is stacked with themes of finality and reflection woven throughout singles such as “Big Black X,” which nods to their early days as punk upstarts, to other songs such as “Sweet ’til the Bitter End” and “Ruby Church,” which revisit the romantic tensions that have always simmered in X’s greatest hits.
Smoke & Fiction finds X pushing their sound into the beyond and back, with deeper, darker textures, tones, and arrangements.
Zoom’s rock ‘n’ roll twang and raw punk edges, coupled with Bonebrake’s tight rhythms, ground the album, but it’s Doe and Cervenka’s balance of dissonance and harmony—urgent, commanding, and yearning—that brings it all back home. If this really is the end, X is bowing out with the same fire and fierce integrity that made the group a legend in the first place.
Pylon Reenactment Society is fronted by Vanessa Briscoe Hay, whose voice brought Pylon’s kinetic energy to a fine point in the early ‘80s. With PRS, she fronts a wholly new group rounded out by guitar player Jason NeSmith, bass player Kay Stanton (Supercluster, Casper & the Cookies), and drummer Gregory Sanders (Casper & the Cookies). With their recently released debut album, Magnet Factory, the group expands upon Pylon’s angular style with a more pastoral approach in songs like “Educate me, ” “3 x 3, ” and “Fix It.”
Maybe they’ll roll out the seasonal hit (?), “Christmas Daze,” which materialized around this time last year.
Is/Ought Gap embodies the wild side of the no-frills ethos that fueled Athens’ heyday. “Artsy Peace and Love,” “Lucky 7,” “He Said,” and so many other ramped up numbers are defined by singer Bryan Cook’s razor-tongued and fun-loving invectives.
This show is a victory lap for Is/Ought Gap, who’s playing songs from this year’s long overdue discography LP, SUA, released via Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records.
Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin. Photo by Jeremy Saffer.
As a founding member of Italian horror film score masters Goblin, Claudio Simonetti has written and recorded music and soundtracks for director Dario Argento’s Suspiria, Deep Red / Profondo Rosso, and Tenebre as well as for George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. For this latest round of North American shows, Simonetti’s Goblin celebrates 40 years of director Lamberto Bava’s 1985 cult classic film Demons. The group will perform a live score set to a screening of the movie.
After the film, following a brief intermission, the group will play a Goblin “best of” set, tearing through all of the Technicolor blood-stained classics that you want to hear.
Rad/ATL 