Services
I’ve worked as an independent contractor for nearly a decade and welcome opportunities to continue to explore people and places around the globe. Here are some services I offer:
Audio Documentaries
The internet has allowed for an increasing expansion in the distribution of great audio documentaries. I focus on narrative driven, sound rich, audio documentaries for broadcast on radio or via other media. They differ from typical short reports in that they are devoted to covering a particular topic in depth. They require deep research, are usually character driven, and feature rich detail about people, places, stories, and topics.
Please refer to my audio page for examples.
Radio Reporting
I am available to do short and long form radio reporting. I typically cover themes related to arts, culture, current affairs, human rights, and women’s issues, as well as general interest pieces.
I’m also happy to do tape syncs and field recording.
Please refer to my audio page for examples.
Audio Story Instruction
I specialise in instruction about creating folklore-based audio pieces. I co-created and taught a unique graduate level course on radio and folkore at Western Kentucky University (with Dr Erika Brady) and serve as the guest instructor at the Texas Folklife “Stories from Deep in the Heart summer institute.
Oral History
Oral History is about collecting the memories and personal commentaries of historical significance via recorded interviews, often from people whose stories might otherwise be unrecorded. To conduct an oral history interview, the interviewer must be well-prepared, capable of quickly establishing an easy rapport, and able to adapt the line of questioning as necessary according to the responses of the interviewee. Recordings of the interview are transcribed, summarized, or indexed and then placed in a library or archives.
A complete oral history involves the following steps:
- Pre-interview preparation in consultation with client, including devising the scope of questions and drawing up of release forms.
- Undertaking the interviews.
- Making broadcast quality audio recordings of interview/s, as well as taking photographs as required.
- Interview transcription.
- Supplying field notes, summaries and indices as required.
Architectural Documentation and National Register of Historic Places Nominations
I studied historic preservation as part of my MA in Folk Studies and have since gained further experience working in this field; I’ve successfully nominated sites to to the National Register of Historic Places, I serve on the American Folklore Society’s Working Group on Historic Preservation, and – thanks to being the 2012 Sally Kress Tompkins fellow – I have written a number of reports for the Historic American Buildings Survey.
I can prepare nominations documents for the National Register of Historic Places. Here is an example of one I wrote for a rural Kentucky store.
I also welcome opportunities to prepare documentation – both the long and short form reports – for the Historic American Buildings Survey. Here is an example of a long report that I prepared about Nashville’s United Record Pressing Plant:- HABS TN-267 United Record
