Nabil Ayers in Conversation with David Barbe

Writer and music executive Nabil Ayers will join David Barbe, director of the Music Business Program in the Terry College of Business, for a conversation about Ayers’s recent memoir and his life in the music industry.

Ayers has written about race and music for The New York Times, NPR, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, and GQ. His memoir My Life in the Sunshine was published in 2022 via Viking/Penguin. He is the president of Beggars Group US, where he has run campaigns for The National, Big Thief, Grimes, Future Islands, and St. Vincent, as well as reissue campaigns including Pixies’ album Doolittle, which was certified Platinum in 2019.

At age 25, Ayers and his business partner opened Seattle's Sonic Boom Records store, which they sold to a longtime customer in 2016. As a drummer Ayers has performed in several bands including The Long Winters and Tommy Stinson. On his own record label, The Control Group/Valley of Search, Ayers has released music by Cate Le Bon, Lykke Li, The Killers, PJ Harvey, Patricia Brennan, and his uncle, the jazz musician Alan Braufman.

This event is presented by the Music Business Program in partnership with the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts. It is part of the Willson Center’s Global Georgia event series. It is also part of UGA's Black History Month calendar.