Tag Archives: music history

New Zine! ‘POSTCARDS FROM IRVING’ Coming in August

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Why a Zine, and Why Now?

Without giving too much away, this isn’t about Ben Irving as much as it is about the worlds and times he inhabited, and I am still consistently amazed at the things I discover about them. For reasons both personal and professional about which I will go into more detail in Issue One, I’ve decided to self-publish the Ben Irving chronicles, and I’ve decided to do it (mostly) away from the internet.

Those of you who have been following this site for a while may be familiar with who Irving was. If not, feel free to take a look back through the archives so far. Postcards from Irving will take these rabbit holes of research on the man, his music career(s), and his travels and expand upon them with each issue. My plan is to publish and mail out Postcards from Irving quarterly – once per season – with occasional bonus issues or collaborations. I will try to announce/preview each new issue on this website, and still include occasional nuggets from the archives.

Will this Cost Anything?

The ‘Postcards from Irving’ zine/newsletter will be free indefinitely from the date of subscription for anybody US-based, and back issues will be available for $1 each. In order to help offset costs of printing and mailing down the line, I will also be accepting donations. A small donation will get you a shout-out in ‘Postcards from Irving’ and my undying gratitude.

If you are outside of the United States and would like to subscribe to Postcards from Irving please get in touch via the form below or on Instagram.

How to Subscribe

If you would like to have fun and keep it analog (aside from reading about it online here), then direct all correspondence to POSTCARDS FROM IRVING, P.O. BOX 1309, MT. PLEASANT, MI 48804. You are welcome to (1) send me a postcard or letter requesting to subscribe or (2) pay for back issues/donate to the project with well-concealed cash.

You can also subscribe right here, using this form:

How to Donate to the ‘Postcards from Irving’ Project

You can mail well-concealed cash or a check to P.O. Box 1309, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48804, or you can donate via PayPal using the button below (or this link, if you can’t see the button). Any small amount is appreciated and will go directly to cover any printing/mailing expenses.

Thank you. I can’t wait to see where this goes.

“Trinidad” (Ben Irving, original lyric sheet header, 1940s)

Shane Rhyne stops by GEO 101 to talk Mountain Music

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Special thanks to Shane Rhyne, a good friend of Sonic Geography, for stopping by my World Regional Geography class today to talk about the geography of Tennessee music. It covered the early germination of “mountain music” with African, English, and Scots/Irish traditions and their legendary mingling in Knoxville’s Market Square. A lot of people had no idea Knoxville once even had a “Little Ireland” or a “Little Harlem.”

Shane Rhyne doing a guest lecture in my GEO 101 class, October 23, 2014.

Shane Rhyne doing a guest lecture in my GEO 101 class, October 23, 2014.

Anybody interested in learning more about Shane’s background in as a local music and culture historian for Eastern Tennessee can feel free to contact him at shanerhyne[at]gmail[dot]com. You can also read about the 2002 Japanese documentary he appeared in here on this site, and you can also take a look at an interview I did with him way back… last year. Those of you who are local instructors in any geography course that has any material connected to Appalachia, don’t hesitate to invite him to come by and talk to your class; you won’t regret it.