Wex[EP]: Brian Harnetty

Co-commissioned by the Wexner Center, Harnetty's Shawnee, Ohio weaves together field recordings, sonic archives, and live music to examine the coal-mining past and fracking present of a small, Appalachian Ohio village. As with many of his other projects (including The Star-Faced One, performed at the Wex in 2013), Harnetty drew from extensive archival recordings as well as regional music and personal testimony to create a transporting portrait that places history in dialogue with our lived experience today.

Brian Harnetty is a Ohio-based interdisciplinary artist using sound and listening to foster social change. Shawnee, Ohio was given 5/5 stars from MOJO magazine and named their 2019 Underground Album of the Year.

More about Wex[EP]

As today's vocabulary has expanded to include "social distancing" and "essential businesses," the Wex has entered into a conversation with some of our favorite local artists to bring you Essential Performances. With a nod to the short-form, often experimental nature of extended-play records, the Wex[EP] series seeks to document a facet of each artist's practice and explore innovative ways of communing with one another during this rupture of routine.

Join us on Thursdays as we chart a better tomorrow with the thinkers, players, movers, and makers to whom we continue to look for joy and inspiration. If you are able, please consider supporting each artist by using the links located on this page.

View the Wex[EP] lineup

Brian Harnetty, photo: Kevin Davison

More about the artist

• Brian Harnetty on Bandcamp
• Brian Harnetty website
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