Artist: Maggie Pope
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Song: “The Bird Painter”
Release Date: June 25, 2021
In Their Words: “‘The Bird Painter’ was written after a conversation I had with a songwriting mentor of mine: Steve Varney, frontman of Kid Reverie, and banjoist/guitarist for Gregory Alan Isakov. It was a nod to my love of ‘train songs’ as we called them… those that have a steady, relatively unchanging chord progression as a foundation. Humble little tunes that invite the listener to embark on more of a meditative, introspective journey rather than incorporating a more traditional song structure with a big chorus (which is also fun).
“Steve ended up producing this one, arranging and adding almost all of the elements beyond my own vocal and acoustic guitar; that cool electric slide, his warm vocal, and a tambourine that suddenly made me realize that tambourine sounds are some of my favorite sounds in the world. Music will do that sometimes. My dear friend (and another musical mentor) Adam Monaco then topped things off with a perfectly simple piano addition that somehow and inexplicably captures my love of twinkly lights. Music will do that sometimes, too.” — Maggie Pope
Photo credit: Robert Stolpe
