Little Bird by Daniel Talton

I had a dream that I was flying over a vast landscape. I was facing backwards watching the landscape roll out behind me. The landscape was dotted with huge granite spheres, perfectly smooth, floating above the ground. In my dream I heard the "hey little bird" melody / lyric, wrote it down as soon as I woke up.


The Last Few Days

I recorded the initial acoustic guitar in my apartment (you can hear my roommate open the door somewhere in the third verse).

John Dawson and I recorded vocals at his studio, and I borrowed his laser gun tube mic to record the harmonium in the bridge. I had lots of time over quarantine to work on arranging that harmonium part. Thank you John!

Ben Lumsdaine added all the percussion, bass, electric guitar, synths, and all the other goodies you hear in his studio. It took the tune to a whole 'nother place, big and lush. Thank you Ben!

Peter Doyle added pedal steel, and Jack Beal added the arc double-bass / drones, making the whole thing float. Thank you Peter and Jack!

Kyle Houpt took these ten thousand parts and found a way to turn them all into One Thing. I had so much fun talking about it with him, and am always enlightened and excited by his mixes. Thank you Kyle!


Dreaming of Flying

After making Little Bird, I wanted to revisit the track, wondering if I could do something softer, more surreal. This one is probably closest to the experience of my dream.

The intial bog sounds you hear were recorded at Parque de Marque: 40 acres of land in East Washington somewhere. Mark and David Gordon were our wonderful hosts. There was a wildfire burning not so far from us, turning the whole sky orange and making the sun look like some kind of planet come-too-close. The cover photo is taken there under that strange sky. The bog I'm facing in the photo is the same bog you hear.

The flute at the end was recorded in the Angeles Forest, not too far from the Bridge to Nowhere. There's a road that turns into a fire road you can walk up into the mountains, where two huge tunnels go through the mountains. You can see these tunnels in the Master's Cave music video from Edwin Roach. I went up there with Jackson Marchant and recorded him playing his flute in that tunnel. He's such a wonderful player and is always able to take us someplace deep, quiet, and serene.

Kyle Houpt took all of these experiments and turned them into an experience. This is one of those songs where I turn it on, forget I'm listening to it, and suddenly find myself at the end.

chaparral roots music