In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book.
Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Hanif Abdurraqib, Andrew Sean Greer, Roxane Gay, and many others.
Bradley Sides’s novella The Volcano Keeper is a moving fable of family and love.
The Southern Review of Books wrote of the book:
“Beyond clear-eyed descriptions of the world Charlie inhabits, the deeper beauty of this story is the way grief and life spin together like a thaumatrope (a spin art toy) to create a picture of love.”
In his own words, here is Bradley Sides’s Book Notes music playlist for his novella The Volcano Keeper:
It was August of 2023. My wife and I were leaving Mount Rainier National Park and headed toward Crater Lake National Park. I was processing all the grand beauty I’d observed from the past few days—this was the first time I’d seen a volcano, after all. Tyler Childers was on in our vehicle, as he often is, and there were volcanoes—majestic, terrifying, awe-inspiring volcanoes—surrounding us. I didn’t know it at the time, but I should have. A new book had been conceived.
For the longest time in my pre-writing phase, I sat with only the image. There was a volcano. There was a volcano. There was a volcano. But, then, it hit me. Finally, music was there, too, and the stories Tyler Childers was telling reminded me of my rural home. All of it. The laughter and joy and grace and loss and love. I had my inspiration for the world inside The Volcano Keeper, and I knew exactly where Charlie Melvin, my book’s protagonist, and his cattle farm, garden, and creek would be—exactly where all of his family, friends, and neighbors would be, too.
Without music, this book wouldn’t exist. I’d just have a volcano, but with no place to put it.
Here is the playlist to take you into The Volcano Keeper’s fictional Lynnville County, Alabama and the people who live there:
Tyler Childers’ “Universal Sound”
It’s the song that took me home—and the one that also helped find Charlie Melvin, the protagonist of my novella, his. “Universal Sound” really is the song of my life, and I think this book is the most me I’ll ever write.
Iris Dement’s “Let the Mystery Be”
So much of The Volcano Keeper is about belief. How it shapes us. How it enriches us. How it haunts us. This is my go-to song for contemplating belief.
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit’s “Dreamsicle”
I structed my novella as a series of vignettes to reflect the hazy, brief, and fragmented reflection of memories. Isbell, with his Alabama history, helps me go back to the past—and to imagine Charlie’s, too.
Adrianne Lenker’s “Free Treasure”
I love Lenker’s work, both as a solo artist and with Big Thief. “Free Treasure” has to be on this playlist because it so tenderly looks at the value of love. The song feels like a celebration of those relationships we hold dear. I imagine some of the family scenes in The Volcano Keeper being like treasured photographs, and this beautiful song is what I hear in the background.
Mavis Staples’ “Sad and Beautiful World”
So much of The Volcano Keeper is about how we process grief. For Charlie, the beauty of the natural world is one of the ways. It’s a sad, sad world, but there’s so much absolute wonder and beauty.
Waxahatchee’s “Right Back to It” (feat. MJ Lenderman)
There’s a lot of water in my book, and I promise you, each time I listen to “Right Back to It,” I’m floating in the creek.
Watchhouse’s “Old Ties and Companions”
Time is fleeting, and we have to hold on to those we love. They won’t be here forever. The Volcano Keeper explores this idea more, and this song from Watchhouse captures that feeling so movingly.
Sierra Ferrell’s “Lighthouse”
Love, in its best form, can help us find our way. Charlie is lost a lot in my book. He’s searching and searching and searching. He believes he finds the titular object Ferrell sings of.
Valerie June’s “With You”
Valerie June’s “With You” is one of the greatest love songs ever written. I’ll believe that until I die. It’s a celebration—of love and of life. While The Volcano Keeper certainly has sadness and darkness, I hope, at the end of the day, it reads like a celebration.
Brandi Carlile’s “You and Me on the Rock”
I have to add one more great love song on here. The Volcano Keeper is set on literal rocks that keep expanding as the story goes further and further—and the love gets deeper and deeper.
Kacey Musgraves’ “The Architect”
I don’t want to give away too much of my book’s ending, but, as I’ve said, the journey of Charlie’s life is so much about belief. Who/what guides him? Does he even a guide? Musgraves’ “The Architect” asks these same questions…
The Avett Brothers’ “Murder in the City”
“Murder in the City” has one of my favorite lyrics of the band’s catalog: “Always remember there was nothing worth sharing / Like the love that let us share our name.” For a book so focused on family, this song has to be on this playlist.
Sturgill Simpson’s “Panbowl”
I imagine most of us have those songs that just make us tear up each time we hear them, no matter how many times we hear them. Welp, Sturgill Simpson’s “Panbowl” is one of mine. It’s so full of loss and longing and sadness and pain, but it’s mixed with so much love and beauty that it feels like it’s a whole damn album (or novel) in itself.
Sarah Kate Morgan’s “Heaven In My Mind”
I can think of no better song than the folk gem “Heaven In My Mind” from the incredibly-talented Sarah Kate Morgan to match the ending of The Volcano Keeper. This song transports us with such peace and beauty, and that’s the very thing I hope the ending of my little book does, too.
also at Largehearted Boy:
Bradley Sides’s playlist for his story collection Crocodile Tears Didn’t Cause the Flood
Bradley Sides’s playlist for his story collection Those Fantastic Lives
Bradley Sides is the author of two previous short story collections, Those Fantastic Lives and Crocodile Tears Didn’t Cause the Flood, a 2024 Book of the Year finalist at Southern Literary Review. His writing appears at Chapter 16, Electric Literature, LeVar Burton Reads, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Millions, The Rumpus, and Southern Review of Books, where he also serves as the host of “The Southern Summer Book Club.” He lives in Madison, Alabama, with his wife, and, on most days, he can be found teaching writing and literature at Calhoun Community College. His latest book is The Volcano Keeper.