Americana. Quirky. Upbeat. Harmonic. These are just a few words that come to mind when listening to Birds Over Arkansas, Americana Prog Rockers whose influences span from Pink Floyd, Tom Petty, Peter Gabriel, and Frank Zappa to Americana artists such as The Avett Brothers, Ryan Adams, and Iron & Wine. Formed in 2011, the band consists of Scott Haskitt (guitar, lead vocals), Laura Hartshorn (keyboards, vocals), John Mondick (guitar, vocals), Ryan Berg (drums), and Chico Huff (bass).
“In the writing process, we started realizing that we had these quirky and unorthodox ideas, and then we would edit them down until they sounded like everyone else. It was really frustrating, sort of killing our own creativity. So we started to shine a light on the quirky bits until they started to make sense in their own way.”
Their new EP Behind the Lights is an eclectic mix of heartfelt lyrics, infectious melodies, and complex rhythmic structures. Notable guest musicians David Rhodes (Peter Gabriel) lends his ambient electric guitar style to The String, and Carter Gravatt (Carbon Leaf) adds soaring lead guitar lines to Comet.
It’s no surprise, given the band’s tenacity and individuality that Catapult – an addictive little number – is now in rotation on airwaves across the United States, as well as Aspen Public Radio naming the song as one of the 16 best “Under The Radar” songs of 2014, alongside such notable artists as Jackson Browne and Willie Nelson.
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