Brian A. Anderson
@thebanderson.bsky.social
NYT bestselling author. Pulitzer-winning editor. LOUD AND CLEAR, my book on the Grateful Dead's Wall of Sound, out now on St. Martin's Press. Also teach journalism at Northwestern.
Pinned
Pinching myself. LOUD AND CLEAR made the New York Times Best Seller List for Nonfiction. I’m grateful beyond words. If you purchased a copy, know it means the world.
www.nytimes.com/books/best-s...
www.nytimes.com/books/best-s...
Stoked to see LOUD AND CLEAR in such good company on Bookshop’s MUSIC & MUSICIANS: The Best Books of 2025 List.
bookshop.org/lists/music-...
bookshop.org/lists/music-...
MUSIC & MUSICIANS: The Best Books of 2025
The most acclaimed and anticipated books on music and musicians published in 2025 (so far), including new paperback editions of titles published in hardcover last year.
bookshop.org
December 5, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Stoked to see LOUD AND CLEAR in such good company on Bookshop’s MUSIC & MUSICIANS: The Best Books of 2025 List.
bookshop.org/lists/music-...
bookshop.org/lists/music-...
12/4/65>12/4/25
Here’s to the next 60 years of the Grateful Dead, the enduring American mystery cult.
Here’s to the next 60 years of the Grateful Dead, the enduring American mystery cult.
December 4, 2025 at 1:38 PM
12/4/65>12/4/25
Here’s to the next 60 years of the Grateful Dead, the enduring American mystery cult.
Here’s to the next 60 years of the Grateful Dead, the enduring American mystery cult.
Sitrep from the full run. From a 1969 rehearsal, but could really be from any show the band played in that era too.
December 2, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Sitrep from the full run. From a 1969 rehearsal, but could really be from any show the band played in that era too.
Chicago suburban heads and other curious folk, I’ll be talking about the book at the Park Ridge Public Library (shoutout) next month.
Thursday 1/29. 7 PM. Books for sale on-site. Come hang.
Free! Register here: parkridgelibrary.libcal.com/event/15227396
Thursday 1/29. 7 PM. Books for sale on-site. Come hang.
Free! Register here: parkridgelibrary.libcal.com/event/15227396
Author Talk: LOUD AND CLEAR with Brian Anderson
New author Brian Anderson will discuss his extensive research about the Grateful Dead’s wall of sound and their quest for audio perfection. Books will be available for sale from...
parkridgelibrary.libcal.com
December 2, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Chicago suburban heads and other curious folk, I’ll be talking about the book at the Park Ridge Public Library (shoutout) next month.
Thursday 1/29. 7 PM. Books for sale on-site. Come hang.
Free! Register here: parkridgelibrary.libcal.com/event/15227396
Thursday 1/29. 7 PM. Books for sale on-site. Come hang.
Free! Register here: parkridgelibrary.libcal.com/event/15227396
Mark your calendars. I’ve got a hot stack of books for the 12/20 Dead Inside holiday market at Sleeping Village. Snag a copy. Happy to personal inscriptions.
November 28, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Mark your calendars. I’ve got a hot stack of books for the 12/20 Dead Inside holiday market at Sleeping Village. Snag a copy. Happy to personal inscriptions.
“Aw, go away, you cop!” -Garcia
November 26, 2025 at 9:41 PM
“Aw, go away, you cop!” -Garcia
Stoked to be part of the 5-year anniversary meltdown of Dead Inside, Chicago’s finest Dead Night. I’ll be slinging and signing copies of LOUD AND CLEAR alongside a bunch of other righteous vendors.
Sat 12/20 @ Sleeping Village. 8-12. 21+.
Come hang. Guaranteed deep trip.
🎨: @longyaaawn (IG)
Sat 12/20 @ Sleeping Village. 8-12. 21+.
Come hang. Guaranteed deep trip.
🎨: @longyaaawn (IG)
November 25, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Stoked to be part of the 5-year anniversary meltdown of Dead Inside, Chicago’s finest Dead Night. I’ll be slinging and signing copies of LOUD AND CLEAR alongside a bunch of other righteous vendors.
Sat 12/20 @ Sleeping Village. 8-12. 21+.
Come hang. Guaranteed deep trip.
🎨: @longyaaawn (IG)
Sat 12/20 @ Sleeping Village. 8-12. 21+.
Come hang. Guaranteed deep trip.
🎨: @longyaaawn (IG)
Reposted by Brian A. Anderson
Really like "Loud and Clear" by @thebanderson.bsky.social. 300 pages on a PA, good good stuff.
November 25, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Really like "Loud and Clear" by @thebanderson.bsky.social. 300 pages on a PA, good good stuff.
I was there. Core memories.
November 22, 2025 at 5:47 PM
I was there. Core memories.
Shoutout Bookshop Santa Cruz for including LOUD AND CLEAR on its best of 2025 nonfiction list. A real honor to get a nod from a longtime indie bookseller in Dead country.
Support your local.
Support your local.
November 22, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Shoutout Bookshop Santa Cruz for including LOUD AND CLEAR on its best of 2025 nonfiction list. A real honor to get a nod from a longtime indie bookseller in Dead country.
Support your local.
Support your local.
Reposted by Brian A. Anderson
I totally get this approach to things. I couldn't do it with a band, but have done/am doing similar with decades-long runs of newspaper comic strips and similar... (next up on that list, the complete runs of Pogo and MAD.)
A few months ago, something occurred to me: While I’ve listened to nearly every Dead show for which there is a publicly available recording, many of them too many times to count (to the point they’re in my bones), I’ve never consumed the full 30-year run in chronological order.
November 18, 2025 at 8:07 PM
I totally get this approach to things. I couldn't do it with a band, but have done/am doing similar with decades-long runs of newspaper comic strips and similar... (next up on that list, the complete runs of Pogo and MAD.)
Reposted by Brian A. Anderson
This is hardcore.
A few months ago, something occurred to me: While I’ve listened to nearly every Dead show for which there is a publicly available recording, many of them too many times to count (to the point they’re in my bones), I’ve never consumed the full 30-year run in chronological order.
November 18, 2025 at 5:48 PM
This is hardcore.
A few months ago, something occurred to me: While I’ve listened to nearly every Dead show for which there is a publicly available recording, many of them too many times to count (to the point they’re in my bones), I’ve never consumed the full 30-year run in chronological order.
November 18, 2025 at 5:46 PM
A few months ago, something occurred to me: While I’ve listened to nearly every Dead show for which there is a publicly available recording, many of them too many times to count (to the point they’re in my bones), I’ve never consumed the full 30-year run in chronological order.
Reposted by Brian A. Anderson
I started @thebanderson.bsky.social's new book a couple of days ago, and I'm really enjoying it. (Audiobook read by the author) Check it out if you're into the Dead (obviously), music tours in the 70s, the history of concert sound, and more.
November 17, 2025 at 4:46 PM
I started @thebanderson.bsky.social's new book a couple of days ago, and I'm really enjoying it. (Audiobook read by the author) Check it out if you're into the Dead (obviously), music tours in the 70s, the history of concert sound, and more.
Honored to have been interviewed for this obit. www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
Donna Jean Godchaux, Who Backed Up Elvis and Brought Soul to the Dead, Dies at 78
Raised in studios around Muscle Shoals, Ala., she was with the Grateful Dead for some of its most celebrated—and infamous—eras.
www.wsj.com
November 14, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Honored to have been interviewed for this obit. www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
Fascinating. If only there was an entire book written on this very wall of speakers.
November 14, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Fascinating. If only there was an entire book written on this very wall of speakers.
Reposted by Brian A. Anderson
To capture psychedelic sounds in their purest form, the Grateful Dead developed a mammoth PA system called the "Wall of The Sound."
Henry Carrigan's latest READING ROOM considers a new book by Brian Anderson that explores the Dead's audio experiment.
Read here:
nodepression.org/the-reading-...
Henry Carrigan's latest READING ROOM considers a new book by Brian Anderson that explores the Dead's audio experiment.
Read here:
nodepression.org/the-reading-...
THE READING ROOM: The Dead’s Epic Wall of Sound in Minute, Exquisite Detail on Brian Anderson’s ‘Loud and Clear’
Once upon a time, the Grateful Dead hung out in trees, dropping acid, and leading bands of Merry Pranksters dreamily along that golden road to eternal devotion. The darlings of psychedelic rock—or…
nodepression.org
November 6, 2025 at 5:26 PM
To capture psychedelic sounds in their purest form, the Grateful Dead developed a mammoth PA system called the "Wall of The Sound."
Henry Carrigan's latest READING ROOM considers a new book by Brian Anderson that explores the Dead's audio experiment.
Read here:
nodepression.org/the-reading-...
Henry Carrigan's latest READING ROOM considers a new book by Brian Anderson that explores the Dead's audio experiment.
Read here:
nodepression.org/the-reading-...
The older I get, the more I realize the true enduring lesson of the Dead—for me, at least—is one of compassionate worldbuilding and imagining better possible future tomorrows, even (especially) in times of confusion, darkness, and tragedy.
November 11, 2025 at 5:32 PM
The older I get, the more I realize the true enduring lesson of the Dead—for me, at least—is one of compassionate worldbuilding and imagining better possible future tomorrows, even (especially) in times of confusion, darkness, and tragedy.
This time last year, my editor, publisher, and I were finalizing the book. Been a ride.
November 10, 2025 at 2:56 PM
This time last year, my editor, publisher, and I were finalizing the book. Been a ride.
An invite to join the parade of authors at this year’s Chicago Public Library Foundation Awards was a highlight of my year. You know I had to hit ‘em with the double peace sign followed by the doom metal prayer hands.
Watch the full program: m.youtube.com/watch?v=pCuT...
Watch the full program: m.youtube.com/watch?v=pCuT...
November 8, 2025 at 6:08 PM
An invite to join the parade of authors at this year’s Chicago Public Library Foundation Awards was a highlight of my year. You know I had to hit ‘em with the double peace sign followed by the doom metal prayer hands.
Watch the full program: m.youtube.com/watch?v=pCuT...
Watch the full program: m.youtube.com/watch?v=pCuT...
“I mean, shit, man” - Garcia
November 8, 2025 at 12:59 AM
“I mean, shit, man” - Garcia
Thanks to Jim Schutt for sending over this Wall-inspired painting. Hazy tie-dye acrylic on canvas. 24x32 inch. Phone camera doesn’t do it justice but I love how this captures Bear’s original visions of sound as “interacting waves of color.” That has to be my artifact in there, too. Heady!
November 5, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Thanks to Jim Schutt for sending over this Wall-inspired painting. Hazy tie-dye acrylic on canvas. 24x32 inch. Phone camera doesn’t do it justice but I love how this captures Bear’s original visions of sound as “interacting waves of color.” That has to be my artifact in there, too. Heady!
Reposted by Brian A. Anderson
Really great chat- Brian’s so good at this, and of course, my wife is the best at what she does- so put it in your earholes!
Had a great time chatting about the Dead, the Wall of Sound, and LOUD AND CLEAR on the Behind the Song pod. Thanks for having me, Janda!
Listen: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...
Listen: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...
November 5, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Really great chat- Brian’s so good at this, and of course, my wife is the best at what she does- so put it in your earholes!