Join acclaimed songwriter and novelist John Darnielle as he presents This Year: 365 Songs Annotated, a work of rapturous beauty that pairs the definitive texts of 365 Mountain Goats songs with first-person commentaries on his life and music.
From his early days recording on a boom box through the evolution of the Mountain Goats from solo project to full band, John traces his creative journey through the songs themselves. These commentaries reveal how the songs came to be and the people who inspired them: his family and friends, his wife Lalitree Darnielle, his longtime collaborator Peter Hughes, and his literary heroes including Flannery O'Connor, Jorge Luis Borges, and Stephen King.
Here are the origins of beloved songs like “This Year,” “No Children,” “The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton,” and “Up the Wolves”—released from their recordings to stand as self-contained stories, richly coloured and extending their private inks into the wider world.
Author of three New York Times bestselling novels including Wolf in White Van, a National Book Award nominee, and Devil House, John brings a novelist's eye to the craft of songwriting. Spanning decades, John will discuss the making of this collection, a definitive literary record of one of music's most visionary bards.

“This lovely book is both a beautiful collection of songs and a fascinating guide to the strange work of making art in the world. A bountiful gift from one of our greatest songwriters.” John Green, author of A Fault in Our Stars

The ‘stream and book’ package includes a unique ticket for the stream, and a copy of This Year: 365 Songs Annotated (RRP £30) deliverable to any UK address.
The event will initially be broadcast on 4 December at 6.30pm UK time. It will be available to view up to two weeks after the event has ended and can be accessed Worldwide. If you live in a time zone that does not suit the initial broadcast time you can watch it at any point after the initial showing for two weeks.
If you have any questions, please email [email protected].