Birds

Collection Contents

#		Title	Length
1		Piping Plovers	0:26	Play
2		Riding the Rails With Chris Darling	3:00	Play
3		The Run Up Butter Mountain	4:11	Play
4		Great Blue Heron	3:33	Play
5		Hammerhead	0:53	Play
6		Pole Vaulting Mingus	5:45	Play
7		War Never Ends	3:59	Play
8		Hijaz Mojo	8:13	Play
9		73 Bus Vs. 71 Bus	2:36	Play
10		Charles River Rag	1:28	Play
11		Salty and Smooth	1:13	Play
12		Lost Oystercatcher	6:24	Play
13		Mississippi Ripposaurus	1:45	Play
14		Glass Flowers in Mothballs	0:43	Play
15		February Grebe	3:31	Play
16		24 Hours	1:53	Play
17		Unitedstatesofamnesia	2:40	Play

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Bitmunk Marketplace Service	USD $0.98
CD Baby Artist Royalty	USD $5.97
CD Baby 9% Digital Distribution Cost	USD $0.54
Bitmunk Download Service	USD $0.75
Bitmunk MicroPayment Service	USD $0.01
Total	USD $8.23

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Description

Birds is the first collection of solo instrumental compositions
by Dobro virtuoso lloyd Thayer. The album features 17 acoustic
soundscapes all played on lapstyle guitar, meaning, the guitar is
played flat in the lap and fretted with a metal bar. Thayers playing
is rooted in the tradition of John Fahey, Robbie Basho, and other
Takoma artists, but also contains deep echoes of an older, outsider
group of players from the 1920s like Sylvester Weaver and Frank
Hutchinson.
From the regal beauty of songs like Great Blue Heron or
War Never Ends to the haunting, mysterious richness of February Grebe
and 24 Hours, lloyds playing covers a wide range of emotions and
moods. Riding the Rails and Lost Oystercatcher feature some
beautiful work on the Weissenborn guitar, which is just one of a
variety of guitars used on the CD, including a 1929 National
Squareneck Tricone, a Dobro made of fiberglass, and a 12 string
acoustic guitar specially modified to be played lap style.
Perhaps the high point of the album is the eighth song, Hijaz Mojo.
At just over 8 minutes long, this piece is an improvisation on National Steel
Guitar in the ancient Middle Eastern Maquam or scale called Hijaz, which is
popular throughout the Arab world. lloyds study of Middle Eastern and classical Indian musics shines through on this piece, which crosses the line between cultures with graceful fluidity.
The CD also features some agressive right-hand picking work on the 12
string on songs like Mississippi Ripposaurus and Charles River Rag." Finally, Birds comes to a close with the powerful and expressive UnitedStatesofAmnesia, a one-take, one-time improvisation that perfectly sums up Thayers mastery of his chosen instrument.
Honed during endless hours on subway platforms in his native Boston,
Thayers playing reaches new heights on this CD, and pushes the
boundaries of what can be done on a Dobro. In fact, many of the
songs on this CD grew out of improvisations played while waiting for
the next group of subway commuters to arrive. A beautiful work from start to finish, Birds is played from the heart and soul by a master artist, with intensity and emotion, and is for lovers of acoustic music everywhere.