Press

A collection of interviews, articles, etc., on topics you’d expect from me.

The Belt: “The History of American Music, as Recorded in Richmond, Indiana”

Writer Avery Gregurich’s article on Gennett Records, based on a wide-ranging conversation we had about the label.

Aquarium Drunkard: “Kyle Barnett and Record Cultures of the Wild Midwest”

Author, journalist and musician Jesse Jarnow interviewed me for his wonderful “Blanks and Postage’ column for Aquarium Drunkard, in which we discussed some of what comes up in Record Cultures.

Perfect Sound Forever: “Record Labels Versus & Working With Radio (Book Excerpt)”

Jason Gross has been my occasional editor over the years, on rare occasions when I’ve come to him with an idea. He is editor and publisher of Perfect Sound Forever, one of the longest-running online music magazines (founded in 1995). He handpicked a section of Record Cultures on the complicated relationship between sound recording and radio cultures in the 1920s and 1930s.

Music Journalism Insider: Kyle Barnett Interview

I spoke with Todd L. Burns about Record Cultures, academic culture, university presses, writing and revising, as well as a discussion of a few of the book’s musical touchstones. Burn’s one-man-project is paywalled (or will be by the time you may be reading this), but his experiment in journalism and academic writing on popular music is worthy of support.

Radio Survivor: “The Intertwining History of the Radio & Recording Industries”

I was thrilled to speak with Jennifer Waits, Paul Riismandel, and Eric Klein of the Radio Survivor podcast about the complicated relationship between the radio and recording industries between the world wars. We discussed differences between the two technologies as they emerged, public and private listening, as well as sound recording and radio’s initially troubled relationship, later consolidation, and eventual dependence on one another.

WFPL Radio: “Saving Kentucky Sound, One Recording at a Time”

Radio Scholar Christine Ehrick and I were interviewed by Louisville’s WFPL Radio about the work of the Radio Preservation Task Force, an initiative of The Library of Congress’ National Recording Preservation Board. The task force has worked since 2014 to encourage collaboration between academic researchers and archivists to preserve radio history, to identify and save endangered collections, to build an online inventory of extant collections with the help of radio-show collectors, and to encourage radio research.