Album Notes

Jon Rodgers founded the band Mighty Purple with his brother and put out 6 albums over the last ten years. The Sound of Birds is Jon's first solo endeavor. Jon says:

"This is the first piece of work that I have created that was 100% my own. I played everything on the album but the drums. This was my attempt to see how accurately I could reproduce what was in my head musically. There are almost no sounds on the album which were not first concieved in my head, as opposed to many creative situations where the chemistry of a group dictates what the end result will be. The whole album is centered around the lyrics. Some of the songs were written in their entirety (at least lyrically) before I ever picked up an instrument to play them. I let the words dictate the music pretty exactly. Some songs are devoid of any normal structure, but I feel they more accurately depict the flow of thought and of life.

Musicians often get too caught up in conventions or set structures. Or, in the converse, they break conventions only to break them, not because the specific song or feeling demanded a given different approach. I tried, on this album, to really listen to what the words and feelings demanded musically. I am pleased with the results.

I enjoyed experimenting with many different instruments, most of them found in the garbage. Listen for the hammer dulcimer on Summer Fades, or the Zither and Wurlitzer on The Sound of Birds, and you will never feel the same about passing that huge heap of trash on the side of the road. There may be a treasure in there.

One song, This Rut, has deep meaning to me as a musician. I was recording simple versions of the album songs so I could better hear what they demanded. I realized while in that process that almost all songs are an attempt to re-create a certain feeling, or to channel it at best; to somehow ideally present a truth, and usually one born in another time and place than while wired to recording equipment.

Though this does have it's place, I was craving lomething purer, an instant expression of feeling. A moment unique to itself and wholly truthful, not just a representation of it. This Rut is one of four impromptou songs that I sang that night. Though free playing can sometimes present tedious and mediocre results, I felt I really hit something that evening. I will not play the song ever again. It can be heard in it's original moment.

All told, I am very pleased with this album. I hope you enjoy it too. Contact me if you wish - Jonny Rodgers"