Formed in 2011, Connecticut band Birds Over Arkansas have been steadily gaining a following around New England with their pop-infused Americana that immediately pulls the listener in with distinct, catchy harmonies and heartfelt lyrics. Consisting of Scott Haskitt (guitar, lead vocals), Laura Hartshorn (keyboards/vocals), John Mondick (guitar/mandolin/vocals), and Ryan Berg (drums/percussion), Birds Over Arkansas have only continued to progress following the release of their 2014 album Behind the Lights. The album offered listeners an eclectic mix of sincere lyrics, infectious melodies, and complex rhythmic structures.
Today we are presenting a sneak preview of the band’s new single “So Much Sky” right here on Glide Magazine. Like Reinhold Rudenberg, the scientist subject of this moving song, Birds Over Arkansas are obsessed with the details of life. Whereas Rudenberg developed the microscope for the purpose of curing polio, this band creates beautifully crafted songs like “So Much Sky” in order to encourage listeners to appreciate the little things in life. Blending unorthodox song structures, technical progressive rock rhythms, and Americana instrumentation and harmonies, Birds Over Arkansas have a gift for crafting timeless music.
John Mondick recently explained how “So Much Sky” represents the band’s willingness to explore their unorthodox side:
“So Much Sky” is about being too often consumed by life’s bigger picture and therein losing sight of the finer details. While the lyrics in the chorus and bridge juxtapose the act of sky gazing with that of internal self-reflection, the verses communicate another story – the story of the struggles of Reinhold Rudenberg, a scientist and inventor, who was in part responsible for the development of the electron microscope. His strongest inspiration for his work was his 3 year old son who had been crippled with polio. His hope for the electron microscope was to help other scientists finally visualize the polio virus and, in turn, advance research for its eradication. The inspiration is a sound clip taken from a scanning-tunneling microscope. The syncopated, scratchy groove heard in the intro is the sound of the movement of individual atoms, rendered by the microscope. It is this sound that spawned the rhythmic backbone of the chorus and verse aspects of “So Much Sky.”
LISTEN:
For more music and info visit birdsoverarkansas.com
