Flightless Bird is the sophomore solo record from NY based guitarist/songwriter Scott Barkan. With an official release date set for today, January 14th, Scott will be embarking on a 12 date, full-band release tour that will bring his trio from Brooklyn, NY down to Athens, GA and back again to promote the album, including a stop in Brooklyn, NY on January 22nd at Freddy's Backroom.
After years of working as an in demand sideman for various songwriters and bands around the country, having his guitar playing and songwriting featured in film and television, as well as leading numerous guitar oriented instrumental projects, Scott has recently struck out as a solo artist.
The new project, which finds Scott's signature shimmering guitar tones and skronky, avant/country improvisations serving as the backdrop for his witty, self-effacing and often heartbreaking lyric writing, is without-a-doubt Barkan's most personal project to date.
The tunes themselves run the gamut from swampy grooves to bluegrass-infused rock to ethereal ballads, but Barkan's powerful voice and somber, humorous songwriting always remain front and center, the thread that strings all these elements together.
Recorded over three days between Brooklyn, NY and Charlottesville, VA in the Spring of 2013, Flightless Bird captures Barkan's adventurous guitar playing and self-effacing songwriting in a lush, full band context, comprised of mostly first takes and using minimal overdubs.
Though not deliberately conceived as a song cycle or concept album, the themes present in the title track - self doubt, feeling i'll at ease with ones place in the world, and ultimate acceptance - run as an undercurrent throughout the record, filtered through a loose storyline of a relationship seemingly on its last legs.
Incredible original artwork provided by Portland, OR based illustrator Benjamin Dewey does even more to tie these ideas together, in a wordless story depicted throughout the packaging and disc art, only available with physical copies of the record.
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