Tag: Adam Monaco

LISTEN: Maggie Pope, “The Bird Painter”

Posted on by Editor

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

WATCH: Under the Oak, “Beyond the Physical”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Under the Oak
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Song: “Beyond the Physical”
Album: Big Sky
Label: Winding Way Records

In Their Words: “‘It’s beyond the physical. It’s beyond the beating heart…’ I was at a beach in Pensacola when that phrase started repeating itself in my head over and over again — that’s when the song began. At the time, I knew my dad was sick, but I didn’t know that he would be going into hospice within days and would be leaving us in a week’s time. I didn’t know why I was writing it — it was just one of those ‘gift songs’ that came quick and furious — the kind where you don’t really even know what it’s about until it’s finished.

“When Kris Magyarits (Creative Director, Alkemy X) offered to produce and create this video for us, we were blown away. He captured the spirit of the song and the band perfectly. After putting together the initial footage we got from the forests, fields, and creeks surrounding his home, Kris felt something was still missing — he decided that we needed to honor the beginnings of the song with a trip out to Cape May, New Jersey, to film the final scenes on the beach. We froze our butts off, laughed (and maybe cried a little), dined on some killer Indian cuisine, and threw chairs in the ocean. (All chairs were retrieved and we left nothing but our footprints.)” –Adam Monaco

Photo credit: Ellen Miller/ECM Productions