“Harnetty trac[es] decades of his career in rich, engaging detail . . . min[ing] his memories throughout, exploring the many human connections that have helped to bring his archival albums more fully to life, while also accounting for the ways that time has evolved the emotional weight carried by certain projects.”

“A deeply personal rumination on how [Harnetty] listens empathetically and critically to diverse forms of recordings... Comparing musical analysis, a form of sonic ethnography, and composition to literary writing, he maintains that understanding requires concerted recognition of time and place... This is a challenging and rewarding work. ”

“Brian Harnetty’s warm, thoughtful, and inclusive narrative offers a window not only into the creative process but also into what it means to be a steward of archival sound. A compellingly personal, marvelously written evocation of art, place, and community.”

“A beautifully rendered mix of memoir, creative practice, deep listening, and social history… This book is a model for community-engaged humanistic scholarship.”

“Brian brings such a reflective depth and a range of cultural connections to this conversation, a quality that mirrors what makes his sound work so unique. We encounter creative leaps and new ways of composing that are deeply and authentically tethered to the land, histories, and experiences of his region. This is what powers his new book, Noisy Memory: Recording Sound, Performing Archives. It’s a book that I confidently feel will become a touchstone in the music field, but also closer to home. It’s a book I wish was available to me in my early twenties as I was trying to balance my own rural cultural heritage and lived experience with a larger arts field, which afforded little visibility and representation to those foundations. Noisy Memory offers a robust articulation of Brian’s journey, and I’m excited and grateful for how it will provide inspiration and ballast to many folks at various stages of their own artistic practice.”

“Through a series of albums...Harnetty fused archival recordings with newly created musical accompaniments, opening portals between our contemporary world and the recent past. The music can be poignant sonic complements to the sampled voice, or sometimes dark, jazz-like, improvisations... His time spent creating music from these archives is detailed in his new book, Noisy Memory. Noisy Memory is about the process of listening to and engaging with these found sounds. It is also a memoir of sorts, detailing Harnetty’s work in these communities and his own personal story.”