I DIE EACH TIME I HEAR THE SOUND

A precise yet disorienting look at the exhilaration of music, the process of memory, and the moments when the world becomes new, by the acclaimed songwriter and author of the cult classic memoir The Book of Drugs.

In I Die Each Time I Hear the Sound, musician Mike Doughty presents stories about life on the road as an indie rock musician with his legendary and beloved band Soul Coughing, taking readers deep inside the dislocated life of an itinerant performer, the exhilaration and terror involved in getting up in front of strangers night after night, and as far behind the curtain as they've ever dared to venture. Doughty's writing is deeply provocative, eliciting visceral responses from his readers, and this extraordinary book will blow the minds of people who have never considered what life is like for those on the other side of the stage.

Doughty's new work is composed of strange, surreal tales from on the road that draw from dream-like conflations of memories of times and places, especially New York City in the '90s. It looks at how the avid nostalgia of fans is both a boon and a burden for an artist working to stay vital, and what it is to age while touring, and prolifically releasing new music. He examines the struggle to keep relationships alive while living on the road, and the strangeness of the disconnect between performer and audience. I Die Each Time I Hear the Sound looks at why diminished circumstances are sometimes, bafflingly, more profitable than chart success. Doughty unflinchingly tells what it's like to be a mid-level, cult hero, sober touring musician, sparing no reader of the gory details or the visceral feelings of terror and exhilaration.

In this highly original gathering of autobiographical stories, the musician and writer sends dispatches from a touring musician's peripatetic life, vividly recalling moments when profound musical experiences made him see the world anew. A unique narrative, unstuck in time, and an unforgettable examination of what it is to be an artist in this cultural moment, I Die Each Time I Hear the Sound is funny, vulnerable, and unsparing.

Mike Doughty is a musician, poet, and the author of The Book of Drugs. He lives in Memphis. More information on the author can be found on his website, his Twitter, and his Facebook page.