Joyful Noise Recordings announced Thor Harris as their Artist in Residence for 2019. The “Artist In Residence” series grants prolific artists space to stretch out in the form of a year-long subscription-style body of work. As a result, Thor will be recording with a big list of collaborators all throughout 2019 indwell release a digital album every six weeks starting in late April and concluding in November. By the end of the residency, Joyful Noise will take all of his recordings into a 6xLP set housed in handmade wooden boxes, made by Thor himself, in an edition to 666 copies.
For the duration of his residency, Thor has cumulated a long list of friends who will join him on this experiment. The full list has yet to be announced, but will be revealed throughout the year. As of now, the confirmed collaborators are: Alex Somers, Michael Gira & Norman Westberg, Neko Case, Sharon Van Etten, Bill Callahan, Ayse Hassan & Fay Milton, Thierry Amar & Timothy Herzog, Jeremy Barnes, Heather Trost, Andy Stack, Jamie Stewart, Margaret Chardiet, Lawrence English, Shahzad Ismaily, Sabrina Ellis, Greg Saunier, Jasmine White-Gluz, Kid Millions, Yonatan Gat, Had Fair, Sima Cunningham & Macie Stewart, Marina Tadic, Adam Harding, C.J. Boyd and Daniel Smith.
Thor Harris is a multitalented instrumentalist. He created Thor & Friends in 2015 after five years of touring as the percussionist of the ensemble Swans. This new project is an experiment with the conceptual vocabulary of American Minimalism collaborating with a rotating cast of Austin-based musicians. Thor is also a close collaborator with Xiu Xiu, Bill Callahan, Shearwater and Amanda Palmer.
Besides his dedication to music, Thor is a creator of musical instruments and works as a plumber and woodworker. He often helps to build homes for those in need, while combating runaway gentrification in his hometown, Austin, Texas. He also ran for governor of Texas at one point!
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