Research Assistant

Position: Research Assistant Start Date: Fall 2024 Hours per week: 8-16

Music critic and journalist Joan Anderman is authoring a nonfiction book on the legendary Fort Apache Studios (The Fort), a Boston recording studio founded in 1986 and recognized for numerous seminal albums that shaped rock music and its history. For this project, she is seeking a talented and energetic assistant to conduct key research and author texts to support the publication.

Spanning the years 1986-2006, The Fort contributed significantly to new and emerging rock genres, both in the region and across the globe. The book will chronicle the flowering of a unique and impactful group of musicians nurtured by and at the studio. Among them they created the blueprint for grunge (Pixies), led the anti-folk movement (Billy Bragg), married noise and hooks (Dinosaur Jr), launched lo-fi (Sebadoh), ska-punk (Mighty Mighty Bosstones), and alt-country (Uncle Tupelo), straddled the arena and the underground to become modern rock touchstones (Radiohead), and broke ground for women in charge of their art and careers (Kristin Hersh, Tanya Donelly, Juliana Hatfield, and Hole). The book is also intended to provide an inside view of the rise and fall of musical fashion as seen through The Fort and its key artists and explore the era’s broader cultural shifts. The project is endorsed by the Gary P. Smith Trust, home of The Fort archive, which has granted Ms. Anderman first access to the archives to author this book.

The assistant will contribute primary research and texts to support the book’s writing and production. Applicants should possess strong and natural writing, copy editing, and citation skills. Master’s or PhD candidates with knowledge of modern American arts and culture, politics, economics, media and technologies, and/or urban life are preferred. Knowledge and interest in popular music is very helpful. Research will be conducted in libraries, online, and occasionally in the Gary P. Smith Archives in Bellows Falls, Vermont. A semester of work should be anticipated, with a full year to be considered. This is a largely remote position that begins as early as Fall 2024 and may continue for a year. Pay range is $22-$28/hour for 8-16 hours/week of work.

Joan Anderman is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-nominated music journalist who has written for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Seattle Weekly, and Rolling Stone. She was rock critic at the Boston Globe from 1996-2010. Ms. Anderman is a musician and founding member of the band Field Day. She lives and works in Newton, Massachusetts.

How to Apply:

To apply, submit a resume or CV and cover letter to Ms. Anderman at [email protected]. Applications accepted through Sept. 30, 2024