Fires and Fanzines from Caught By The River

We've got a couple of things to mention on the Caught By The River side of things.

Firstly, Caught By The River's book of the month is now on sale here at Rough Trade East along with their eclectic selection of books on nature and culture.

October's chosen title is Fire Season: Field Notes From A Wilderness Lookout by Philip Connors. 
For five months of every year Philip Connors quits the city and becomes a fire lookout. Connors had me fascinated as he tells what he sees from his observation tower in New Mexico’s Gila wilderness and joins the dots between Aldo Leopold and Jack Kerouac with a subtle nod to Thoreau – “Every day in a lookout is a day not subtracted from the sum of one’s life.” 

A short video about the book can be viewed here...



Secondly, next Wednesday 12th October from 6.30pm - 8pm sees the second installment of monthly events brought to you by the Caught By The River boys. Read on for more details but this looks like it's an event not to be missed…



Xerox – A Celebration Of Fanzine Culture From The 70s To Now

Time and again, we’ve found ourselves saying that Caught By The River is like a fanzine. As longtime fanzine readers, writers and buyers, it makes total sense that there would be something lo-fi and DIY deep inside us; an ever present and excitable urgency to pass on newly learnt information to as many people as possible.
Earlier this year, we decided to join the dots between our site and some of the grassroots mags that had been inspirational to us by holding Tales From The Typographic Ocean, a symposium at Port Eliot Festival to discuss the roots of the UK’s underground press. Our very good friend Emma Warren (formerly of Jockey Slut) hosted a panel that featured Rough Trade’s Geoff Travis, Elektra record’s biographer Mick Houghton and ZigZag man Andy Childs. Tripping back to the late 60s, the talk moved onto punk rock and beyond, painting a kaleidoscopic picture of a time before today’s heavily sponsored, focus grouped music press.
Back in the Smoke, we thought it was something worth revisiting. On Weds October 12th, we’re staging a second fanzine panel. We’re calling it Xerox. This time it’ll go beyond punk, taking in C86, acid house and a whole bunch more. The line up on the night will feature Caught By The River contributors Andy Childs (ZigZag), Andrew Weatherall (Boy’s Own), Bob Stanley (Saint Etienne) and Geoff Travis (Rough Trade), all in conversation again with Emma Warren.

It’s free.

It’ll also be the launch of our own Caught By The River fanzine. More of that later though…