ARCHIVE

Dust in the Bottomland

Andrew at Flower Shop.jpg

Dust in the Bottomland by Nate May is a musical monodrama that paints a complex portrait  of contemporary Appalachia. A passion project conceived of and executed prior to their formal training, Nate and Andrew have put the work on the shelf after performances in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, and South Carolina. Though the music itself is no longer representative of Nate's mature compositional style, or of Andrew's fully trained vocalism, the articles, essays, interviews, and media associated with the piece articulate Nate and Andrew's complimentary perspectives on classical music, aesthetics, politics, and opera.

ESSAYS

Music and Coal Activism: Perspectives from the Field / ed. Dr. Travis Stimeling, with Saro Lynch Thomason and Nate May / Published in the Ethnomusicology Review and Ecomusicology Newsletter, 2016 / Download PDF / view at the Ethnomusicology Review / 2016

Dust in the Bottomland: Annotations on a Libretto / 2013

INTERVIEWS

Dust in in the Bottomland, Opera, Aesthetics, Identity and Environmental Justice / with Nate May,  Dana Hogg, Jordan Laney, and Cheryl Montgomery / Virginia Tech Community Voices and Trustees without Borders / 22.03.2016

A Mountain Talk Special: Dust in the Bottomland on WMMT with Nate May, Sylvia Ryerson, and Mimi Pickering / Appalshop / 13.06.2014