{"id":152441,"date":"2025-10-08T14:54:55","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T19:54:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=152441"},"modified":"2025-10-08T14:54:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T19:54:56","slug":"cool-dog-sound-the-indie-book-label-where-literature-rocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/cool-dog-sound-the-indie-book-label-where-literature-rocks\/","title":{"rendered":"Cool Dog Sound: The Indie Book Label Where Literature Rocks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The greater Oxford<\/strong> area has long been a creative crossroads\u2014a place where the ghosts of William Faulkner<\/strong> and Barry Hannah<\/strong> linger alongside the sounds of guitars spilling out from bars on the Courthouse Square<\/strong>. It\u2019s a place where words and music have always shared the same stage. In that spirit, Cool Dog Sound<\/a><\/strong>, a small but ambitious publishing outfit based in Water Valley<\/strong>, is blurring the line between the written page and the rock-and-roll stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founded by Tim and Susan Lee<\/strong>, Cool Dog Sound calls itself \u201ca rock-and-roll book label,\u201d and the name fits. Their authors are almost all musicians, many with deep local roots, and the books\u2014like the music that inspired them\u2014refuse to be confined by category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Born from the Pandemic<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Cool Dog Sound\u2019s origin story begins during the pandemic, when live music stopped cold. Tim Lee\u2014a veteran musician, and recently the production director for Thacker Mountain Radio Hour\u2014channeled that downtime into writing his memoir, I Saw a Dozen Faces and I Rocked Them All<\/em><\/strong>. Susan, an accomplished graphic designer, handled the visual side. Together, they discovered a love for the process of bringing a book to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then came the turning point. Oxford rocker Tyler Keith<\/strong> reached out to Susan for a hand in designing the cover for his debut novel, The Mark of Cain<\/em><\/strong>. The Lees read the manuscript and eventually began to play with the idea of publishing it themselves. With that, Cool Dog Sound began its evolution from a personal project into a full-fledged publishing house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Unique Roster of Writer-Musicians<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

What makes Cool Dog different from other indie presses is that its authors live in two separate worlds. They\u2019re storytellers and songwriters, equally at home with pen or guitar. The lineup includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tyler Keith, whose gritty Southern noir mirrors the raw honesty of his music, has released over a dozen albums with multiple groups and received a master\u2019s degree in Southern Studies<\/strong> at University of Mississippi. Keith\u2019s first novel was nominated for the award in fiction from the Mississippi Institute for Arts and Letters<\/strong> in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Max Hipp<\/strong>, a literature and creative writing teacher at University of Mississippi, also alum and former student of Barry Hannah, distinctly blends literary craft with a musician\u2019s rhythm. Hipp\u2019s collection of short stories won the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters award for Fiction this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sherry Cothran<\/strong>, a lifelong writer and longtime musician, brings lyrical depth to the page, and has taken opportunities to convert written works into songs for her various bands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sean Kelly<\/strong> is a music journalist, musician, and the author of a definitive biography on the cult-favorite band The Continental Drifters<\/strong>, a project that opened doors from Louisiana to Southern California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The catalog spans novels, memoirs, short stories, poetry, and band biographies\u2014each infused with the voice of someone who knows what it means to create art from experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grassroots Growth, One Event at a Time<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Running a small press means learning on the fly. To avoid warehouses full of unsold books, Cool Dog relies on presales, gauging demand before ordering prints. That model has helped the label stay lean and sustainable.
Events are central to Cool Dog\u2019s identity, often blending music and literature into something more dynamic than the typical book reading. Square Books<\/strong> in Oxford has been a key partner, alongside Lemuria Books<\/strong> in Jackson<\/strong> and music-minded venues like Goner Records<\/strong> in Memphis<\/strong> and T-Bones Records & Caf\u00e9<\/strong> in Hattiesburg<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen we do an event, we try to make it special,\u201d Tim said. \u201cSometimes that means a reading, sometimes it means music, and sometimes it\u2019s both. It keeps it interesting.\u201d That multimedia approach paid off for Sean Kelly\u2019s Continental Drifters biography, which led to a New Orleans book event and even a stop in Los Angeles, drawing fans from the band\u2019s heyday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cool Dog Name and Its Future<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The name Cool Dog Sound might sound like a record label, and that\u2019s not far from the truth. It began as Susan\u2019s design brand, Cool Dog Creative, and carried over to some of the Lees\u2019 self-released music projects. \u201cWe laugh about a book label having \u2018Sound\u2019 in the name,\u201d Tim admits. \u201cBut given that most of our writers are musicians, it works.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As far as what\u2019s next, 2026 will mark Cool Dog\u2019s fifth anniversary, and the Lees are already planning a celebratory anthology featuring all their writers\u2014and maybe a few new ones. There\u2019s also talk of a book by Mississippi musician Will Griffith<\/strong> (a.k.a. The Great Dying<\/strong>), blending poetry and lyrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while the label remains proudly regional, its most recent release, Sagamore<\/em><\/strong>, may soon find a national audience thanks to a promising publicity push from a close friend of the book\u2019s late author Jack Sonni<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For now, Cool Dog Sound is proving that Mississippi\u2019s creative crossroads can still produce something fresh\u2014where music and literature meet, mingle, and make noise together. For updates and a look at their titles, visit
Cool Dog Sound <\/a>online or stop by Square Books to discover what happens when Oxford\u2019s literary tradition plugs into an amplifier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cool Dog Sound Catalog<\/h3>\n\n\n\n