Smith and Smith in the Old Wierd America

Getty Publications is announcing the release this coming January of "Harry Smith: The Avant Garde in the American Vernacular." Ethnomusicological archivist, filmmaker, painter, and alchemist Harry Smith's compilation "Anthology of American Folk Music" is considered the Rosetta Stone of American musical history. This new publication on Smith, his work, and his legacy, includes a collection of essays from authors such as Robert Cantwell and Griel Marcus, and contains "numerous illustrations of Smith's works and a selection of his letters and other primary sources." The book is edited by Andrew Perchuk and Rani Singh, both from the Getty Institute, where in 2001 the Institute sponsored the symposium of the same title. Singh is also director of the Harry Smith Archive in New York. (see http://www.harrysmitharchives.com).

And it gets even better. In celebration of her friendship with Harry Smith and the publication of this book, singer and poet Patti Smith will be speaking and performing at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles on January 28th.

Grateful Dead Caucus

The thirteenth meeting of the Grateful Dead Caucus at the Southwest/Texas Popular & American Culture Association conference is planned for February 10-13th, 2010 in Albuquerque's Hyatt Regency Hotel.

The call for papers has already gone out, but with the final submission deadline set for December 15th. Expect exciting papers and panels on all aspects -- comparative, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary -- of the Grateful Dead Phenomenon to be presented. For more information on this upcoming gathering and to register for the conference see: http://www.swtxpca.org/