Melissa Goldsmith
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melissagoldsmith.bsky.social
Melissa Goldsmith
@melissagoldsmith.bsky.social
440 followers 440 following 41 posts
Musicologist, Music Producer, Composer, Poet/Lyricist, Writer

My creative endeavors will be posted here (soon). For regular posts and much more frequent absurdities, go to @holylibrarians.bsky.social
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melissagoldsmith.bsky.social
Fun but useless fact: I can draw Bill the Cat quickly IRL. This one, however, is an original:
#bloomcounty, #cats, #kitties, #blueskycats, #billthecat
Bill the Cat, a scruffy, frazzled orange cartoon cat with one big eye and one little eye, lots of spit, gives a Thbbft! raspberry.
July 25, 2025 at 10:48 PM
melissagoldsmith.bsky.social
Meanwhile, Aasta the cat represents. #blueskycats, #postmodern, #musicstudiolife, #cats, #blackcats, #meowsky
I took a photograph of the back of my cat Aasta's head. The above picture is actually four pictures using filters of various colors--together, resembling Andy Warhol's postmodern portraits.
July 24, 2025 at 10:56 PM
melissagoldsmith.bsky.social
Today, my book, _Listen to Jazz!: Exploring a Musical Genre_ is officially published!

The site for my book is here: www.bloomsbury.com/9781440875519 and below is a brief description. #Musicology, #Ethnomusicology, #MusicAnalysis, #Jazz, #JazzStudies, #AfricanAmericanStudies, #AcademicPublishing
A low-resolution picture of my book, _Listen to Jazz!: Exploring a Musical Genre_ with a description: "Providing an introductory overview of jazz as both an American musical genre and a global creative exchange, _Listen to Jazz!_ explores the diversity of jazz's sounds, compositions, recordings, and styles. Surveying the sounds, concepts, performances, and production of jazz, this work includes A-to-Z entries on recent jazz musicians from around the world, jazz musicians and recordings that have been marginalized, and musicians, songs, and albums that have contributed to the defining aspects of specific jazz styles. Chapters on the impact of jazz on popular culture and its legacy, as well as a bibliography, enhance the historical and analytical content of the work." Publication dates, pages, ISBN, and series information follow.
July 9, 2025 at 1:02 PM
melissagoldsmith.bsky.social
The summer school grades are in and I am working on music and writing. Aasta is an outstanding studio cat and would *never* think of biting the cables. #musicology, #music, #musicstudio, #musicproduction.
Comic of two black kitties talking by Purr.In.Ink. One asks "What do the hoomans want?" Other cat answers, "Wireless tech." First one, "How do we help? Yes!" (perhaps another joins in?). Cat with all the answers, "We bit the cables!"
July 7, 2025 at 11:38 PM
melissagoldsmith.bsky.social
Also, meanwhile in Northampton. Aasta has developed a love of Louis Armstrong and "Do You Know What It Means to Miss Meow'rleans" is her favorite song. #musicology, #jazz, #cats, #bskycats, #music
A black-and-white photo of my black cat with white whiskers. Her name is Aasta. Here she sits on top of the kitchen table in the kitchen, listening to a little white radio. She also sits next to a wood Dansk tray. In the background is the kitchen counter.
July 5, 2025 at 9:59 PM
melissagoldsmith.bsky.social
Meanwhile in Northampton ... #Northampton, #cats, #vinyl
1950s/1960s artwork featuring a lady with boingy hair like mine (I need a haircut), listening to a record player with two kitties nearby (one on top of the open record player and another--perhaps a shadow or spirit kitty?--way in the background).
July 5, 2025 at 9:51 PM
melissagoldsmith.bsky.social
My cat is likely making deals with mice to up her cheese game. #Blueskycats, #catsofbluesky, #cats, #meow
Tabby comic. Panel 1: From a distance, "Eeek! Is that a mouse? Take it outside!!" as cat carries mouse. 2. Cat tells mouse outside, who isn't harmed at all, "wait here--I'll be right back!" 3. Human hand gives cat Swiss cheese slice and says, "You can have as much cheese as you want if you keep catching those mice. OK?" 4. Cat back outside, sharing cheese with mouse, "...maybe if she actually watches me catch you, she'd break out the REALLY good cheese..." and mouse replies, "Oooh! Do you think she has GRUYERE?!"
June 4, 2025 at 11:25 PM
melissagoldsmith.bsky.social
Happy Caturday! #jazz, #catsky, #musicology
Kliban Cat comic: Tabby listens to an old phonograph, cocks its head like the RCA doggy.
April 19, 2025 at 4:30 PM
melissagoldsmith.bsky.social
Peter Gabriel cat says, "Hi." #Genesis, #PopularMusic
Longhair brown tabby cat looking like they've got concerns and reminiscent of Peter Gabriel.
March 28, 2025 at 11:53 PM
melissagoldsmith.bsky.social
Ready to unwrap it for idea time. #musicstudio, #bskycomposers, #music
A picture of a fresh, new pack of Carta, No. 25, manuscript paper with 14 staves. Will be used mostly for sketching ideas on the current or next piece. This is the good stuff.
March 22, 2025 at 11:15 PM
melissagoldsmith.bsky.social
Every day: #Jazz, #Musicology, #Avant-garde
Needs more Eric Dolphy, the avant-garde jazz multi-instrumentalist. I enjoyed writing about him in my recent book, _Listen to Jazz_ (forthcoming later this year, 2025).
March 17, 2025 at 10:41 PM
melissagoldsmith.bsky.social
Meezer moment: Me-owt. #Beats, #CatsofBluesky, #SiameseCats
Ginsberg's _Howl_ book, accompanied by Meezer = _Howl_ Meezer. Just saying hi for the moment.
March 12, 2025 at 11:12 PM
melissagoldsmith.bsky.social
Here's my personal favorite Fake Book juxtaposition. Good job, editors! #jazz
This picture shows "Groovin' High" on a page just before "Grow Your Own" in the jazz musicians' _Fake Book_. This isn't made up. It could only be made better in reverse order.
March 11, 2025 at 11:39 PM
melissagoldsmith.bsky.social
So it finally happened: Grading jail is officially over for me. Even though my break will be busier than I'd like it to be, there's at least a rest from student time machine requests and my being the songwriting and music production whisperer. #musicologists #composers #academiclife #studiolife
A seagull with a Santa hat, facing the ocean waves. Perhaps thinking of all the possibilities that lie ahead. More likely just wanting a snack.
December 23, 2024 at 3:13 PM
melissagoldsmith.bsky.social
Current Mood. I love teaching and am grateful for teaching what I love, but ...
Spoiled Veruca Salt from the _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_ film on the good/bad egg scale, demanding, "I want this semester to end. I want it to end now!" She was a bad egg, but sometimes said what needed to be said.
December 11, 2024 at 11:11 PM
melissagoldsmith.bsky.social
Music Composition 101: *Some* repetition can be good.
Comic featuring a bluebird and a thrush or sparrow singing together, discussing a song in their head (an earworm for birds, maybe?).
December 7, 2024 at 11:33 PM
melissagoldsmith.bsky.social
More of Aasta and her birds, taking a break from the studio/teaching grind. She works hard!
Small black cat on a rug watching a video of birds at a bird bath.
December 7, 2024 at 5:24 PM
melissagoldsmith.bsky.social
I love spending time with her.
Small black kitty with in-between long and short hair, sitting on a covered ottoman and watching her favorite bird channel on a laptop.
December 7, 2024 at 12:33 AM
melissagoldsmith.bsky.social
Greetings from the office in my mind. I am originally from a West Coast beach town, where beaches were a regular part of my daily life. Today, I live very far away from the beach yet a lot of my creative work, even in musicology, is inspired by the Pacific Ocean. Do places inspire you to create?
Photograph of the Pacific Ocean, its turquoise color, and waves splashing against rocks. In the foreground are ice plants, which commonly grow near the ocean on the West Coast. Yellow ice plant flowers are also shown in full bloom. Thinking of places like the Pacific Ocean and beaches where I grew up inspire me to create on many different levels.
November 29, 2024 at 3:01 PM