Bird on a Wire
The story of a song, played only once
In the Fall of 2016, Kentucky Avenue’s rehearsal space was Stella’s classroom where we pushed aside the desks to make way for Dave’s recording gear. We recorded everything we did in that first year, arranging cover songs and working on originals. One song came out of the blue, a Leonard Cohen song we never rehearsed, but when we listened back to it, we realized we had something special, raw, and poignant.
We shared it with our friend, Producer and Composer Joel Langley, who also heard something special, and he added some subtle touches and post-production that resulted in the track we have now.
We never played it live again, but have always kept it alive in our memory to re-record someday and put on an album. The thing is, we kept coming back to the magic of the original. Nothing, we realized, could replace the vulnerability and honesty so embedded in the lyrics that this spontaneous, unrehearsed rendition offered. Cohen sure gave us a beaut of a song!
And so, we’re thinking now is the time—with all the uncertainty in our midst, we wanted to offer each of you the little gift of this song, Leonard Cohen’s “Bird on a Wire.”
So, as the world has been turned upside down, and hopes and dreams have been shuffled, reorganized, back-burnered or put on hold, so it goes with our new project--and we release our bonus track first.
This recording is the first and only time we have ever played this song.
Please visit our Hyperfollow Page and pre-save "Bird on a Wire"
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Nothing Here is Mine is HERE...and it's YOURS!
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The self-released Nothing Here is Mine features 12 original songs that combine the roots of classic country with a backline of get-up-out-of-your-seat, crank-up-the-volume rock rhythms. Carving a place in the modern Americana scene, Washington DC-based Kentucky Avenue features at its core the rich and rootsy blend of Stella Schindler’s powerfully poetic vocals and the melodic guitar musings of Dave Ries. When their voices come together, the timeless harmonies provide a poignant, sometimes playful backdrop to their lyrics that evoke the idea behind Leonard Cohen’s famous line “there’s a crack in everything/ that’s how the light gets in.” Kentucky Avenue’s stories of broken characters are imbued with hope, illuminated by the moonlight present in many of the layered lines of their lyrics.
Visit the Kentucky Avenue Store to download Nothing Here is Mine and to purchase Cds and Merchandise
In The Studio
Nothing Here is Mine was brought to life under the direction of producer and engineer TJ Lipple at The Bastille and Inner Ear Studios in Shirlington, VA.
Kentucky Avenue then brought in some of the area’s finest musicians:
TJ Lipple on drums, percussion, and vibes
Greg Watkins on upright and electric bass
David Durst on piano and organ
Meghan Davis on fiddle
And from Kentucky,
Tom Hnatow on pedal steel, accordian, and banjo
One song also features a string quartet, orchestrated by Greg Watkins.