Sound
We have a vested interest in the importance of sound in art. We publish compositions and audiobooks.
Fiddleblack began exploring this interest in the form of a now-defunct podcast that deviated from the normal literary read-off by incorporating ambient compositions and drone music into author readings. Those podcast episodes are forever archived here.
Audiobooks
Above All Men
Years from now, America is slowly collapsing. Crops are drying up and oil is running out. People flee cities for the countryside, worsening the drought and opening the land to crime. Amid this decay and strife, war veteran David Parrish fights to keep his family and farm together. However, the murder of a local child opens old wounds, forcing him to confront his own nature on a hunt through dust storms and crumbling towns for the killer.
Stop Breakin Down
In a voice somewhere between Cormac McCarthy and Kurt Cobain, John McManus explores young people living in extreme situations. Some are in the Tennessee Smoky Mountains, some in the Pacific Northwest, a few are in the Western deserts of Utah and Nevada, one is in England, and many are scattered throughout the Southern US. All are desperate for something beyond the ordinary lives that are given to them, and every one is absolutely unforgettable.
Podcast Episodes
Fiddleblack Episode #8: “The Sunken Earth”
In which we hear reader meet writer, and wherein we press on in the dust and dark for the hope of an honest glass of bourbon someday.
Fiddleblack Episode #7: “The Mountain”
In which we hope for millions, not thousands, and wherein we find out exactly how to make this happen.
Fiddleblack Episode #6: “The Higher Sky”
In which we are witnesses to the regalement of an old friend, and wherein a sense of growing discomfort becomes a sacrament to daily ritual.
Fiddleblack Episode #5: “Ender”
In which we are told a country music song through its album notes, and wherein that same song is not played and instead we hear a haunted voice.
Fiddleblack Episode #4: “The Spectral Estate”
In which we consider neighbors of all kinds, mostly in cities where the hot weather has expanded the floorboards and brought a certain stink, and wherein we still remember that at night we are alone and that, surely, no one else is there.
Fiddleblack Episode #3: “The Bygone Campfire”
In which we go with our backpack straps pulled tight to a wilderness with storyteller Dane Elcar, all the while we're graced by the mixed ambience and noise of experimental UK label Touch.
Fiddleblack Episode #2: “The Myriad Walls”
In which we're lead by prayer drum to a circle called at the white throne, and Copper Sloan Levy reads his story "An Imitable Thirst" from Fiddleblack #8.
Fiddleblack Episode #1: “The Tug of Reversal”
In which we hear Dane Elcar read "The Saddler's Son," followed by Kevin Catalano's "The Unreturned," then an excerpt by Nicholas Rombes from his story "The Messiah Detective Agency."