OUR UPCOMING SHOWS…..
*to see more upcoming shows click here or on the show link*
photos by ADAM DODDS
_______________________________________________________________________
*THURSDAY, JULY 29th -
5:40 SUMMER CONCERT SERIES *show from 5:40pm-7:30pm FREE*////CHAPEL HILL , NC
_______________________________________________________________________
*FRIDAY, AUGUST 6th-
CAFFE DRIADE *show starts at 8pm FREE*////CHAPEL HILL, NC
_______________________________________________________________________
*FRIDAY, AUGUST 13th -
THE NIGHTLIGHT for ALCAZAR HOTEL’s CD RELEASE PARTY! *show starts at 10pm $5*////CHAPEL HILL, NC
_______________________________________________________________________
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
NEW “PRIDE OF LIONS” MUSIC VIDEO
by BILLY SUGARFIX!
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG…..
To see photos from our most recent tour or to just see what we’re up to….
photo by Adam Dodds
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
RECENT PRESS…..
illustration by Nathan Golub
“There’s a sepia-toned but strong-willed romanticism to the texture- and harmony-rich tunes of Birds and Arrows, the duo of Andrea and Pete Connolly. Inside these pop-righteous, country-graceful numbers, they keep each other awake on long road trips and rejoice even in the sight of peril, one’s voice bolstering the other like lifelong support.”
Grayson Currin INDEPENDENT WEEKLY (1-20-10)
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
DOWNLOAD *STARMAKER* ON ITUNES!
“There is a violent tension in the moniker Birds and Arrows, but the music that couple Pete and Andrea Connolly craft, spins that friction away from brutality and into elegant, elemental heights. If you take even just one passing listen to their music, it’s apparent these are voices that aren’t in harmony so much as interlocked. It’s as if two people wandering around the woods suddenly came upon each other and realized they were singing the same song– a romantic image made all the more apropos because Pete and Andrea are newlyweds.
Cute personal history aside, it’s the instrumental textures and intimate lyrics that should really catch your attention. From their debut EP Woodgrain Heart to their latest full length Starmaker, the Connolly’s have dreamed up what can only (to my ear) be described as a shimmering deconstructed pop-country sound. There’s a grounded, vintage tone to the arrangements, but a spacey, voyeuristic disconnect in the translation. All in all, it’s a head-scratchingly beautiful mess of music”
Ashley Melzer THE MILL (1-27-10) link to full interview - http://www.carrborocitizen.com/mill/2010/01/gimme-five-pete-and-andrea-connolly-of-birds-and-arrows/
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
BLOG, BLOG, we LOVE it when you BLOG! (about us of course)
No but really, it is always a very nice surprise to find new bloggers
out there that we don't know writing about the record.
Here's a new one! Number 5 show of the year and one of the top records
That's what I'm talkin' about!
NARROWCAST TOP 50 RECORDS – click here
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Birds & Arrows sing their life and love onto the new Starmaker
ALBUM REVIEW by ANDREW RICHEY of Independent Weekly
Birds & Arrows’ Starmaker
(307 Knox Records)
  |
Starmaker, the full-length debut from young duo Birds & Arrows, plays like a scrapbook that chronicles the love and lives of husband and wife Pete and Andrea Connolly. Both the album art and songs are deeply personal, edging on voyeuristic at times, but offering a sort of universal truth for their intimacy. On the title track, Andrea and Pete sing in unison, identifying God as the “starmaker” who pushes a pin through black paper like on a schoolchild’s art project. By casting God as the craft artist, the Connollys afford themselves the power to create their own world, one of instant nostalgia and familiarity, not unlike the best of Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music. Artwork of Native Americans and spaceships collides with lyrics about traveling and love. Birds & Arrows’ domain is strange and beautiful, full of wide-eyed wonder.
On “Honeymoon Song,” they describe a broad and encompassing world, singing, “In a place so old with a life so new, it was all.” Still, Andrea picks out minute details, like stopping the car every few miles because it was smoking. The specificity paints an intimate portrait, offering an inlet into the couple’s private life. Andrea’s strummed guitar begins the track, which grows in layers—cello, piano and pedal steel as ornaments, then Pete’s simple tribal drumming on tom-toms. Add all the sounds in the world, though, and the excitement in “Honeymoon Song” stems from the palpable connection between the couple. Pete joins Andrea on harmony vocals, helping lift the line, “It was all,” into “It was always you.”
The singing throughout Starmaker is fantastic. Andrea’s voice is clear, full and stunning, seemingly designed for melancholic anthems and slow-burning love songs. With sand on his vocal chords, Pete delivers lyrics with a rootsy, quiet confidence that balances Andrea in an unexpectedly appealing way. He even tackles lead vocals on a few songs, including “Monkey Brother,” a song about his estranged adopted brother who died last year.
While the band is essentially a guitar-drums duo, “Ripe and Ruptured” features Latin-inspired claves and ooh-la-las. Coldplay could even cover “Company Keep.” The music refuses to stand still, mirroring the album’s uniting motif of drives—or, more generally, movement and progression. The theme comes to fruition on “Daisy Renee,” a joyous country ode to an old car. “Send her home,” the Connollys call together, echoing Tom Waits and Neil Young’s old-world automobile nostalgia. The ‘64 Oldsmobile can be imagined heading off into the glowing sunset.
Primal and passionate, expectant and hopeful, Birds & Arrows’ Starmaker is a Victorian curio cabinet filled with personal moments and universal emotions.
⇒ Read also: Our feature story on the band, “Birds & Arrows sing their life and love onto the new Starmaker“
STARMAKER is INDEPENDENT WEEKLY’s ALBUM of the MONTH for OCT….now streaming on www.indyweek.com
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
…………..photo by Holden Richards
Seeing stars
Birds and Arrows played Local 506 Friday night to celebrate the release of their first full-length album, the stunning Starmaker. Fellow local acts Mt. Moriah and The Never opened in a fervor of drums, pianos, and haunting vocals, but it was Birds and Arrows that had the crowd in awe, weaving tender harmonies amidst a background of guitar, drums, pedal steel and cello. The Native American motif added a peculiar, if festive, ambiance to the normally dark venue. Andrea Connolly, half of Birds and Arrows, crafted the feathered headdresses herself, adding that the reason she got to wear her great-great-(great?)-grandmother’s beaded purse was because she had proven that craftiness to her mother.
If the music was any indication, the Connollys’ creativity extends far beyond beading and feathers, and as the set at Local 506 proved, Birds and Arrows are masters at crafting music. Check out the slideshow above for photos of the band’s set. THE DAILY TARHEEL
……………..photo from THE DAILY TARHEEL
……………..photo from THE DAILY TARHEEL
……………….photo by Agatha Donkar
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
BIRDS and ARROWS/BUTTERFLIES christmas EP is available for purchase at http://butterflies.bandcamp.com/
Thanks for listening and
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
********************Review by Brian Tucker/Bootleg Magazine*****************
Two Chapel Hill bands, Butterflies, and Birds & Arrows, related by blood and musical affiliation have put together an EP of original and traditional Christmas songs. The five song album will be released at the Christmas at the Cradle show
as a download code and available as a download at bandcamp.com.
The performers involved have lent a personal touch (‘Our Christmas’)
to the songs as well a little humor with a backwoods version of ‘The Chipmunk Song’. ‘Christmas Morning’ is an original song by Butterflies and its tender delivery by singer Josh Kimbrough and its easy melody feels like an old Buddy Holly number. The take on ‘Christmas Time is Here’ is close to the one we all know but their high-pitched and slow jazz version still brings to mind lightly falling snow and
walking at night during the holidays. But the album’s real charmer is ‘Our
Christmas” by Birds and Arrows. Pete and Andrea Connolly trade thoughts on the fun and the duties of Christmas. Pete sings – “I’m not ready for Christmas this year/Has it really been a year?…I’m drinking way too much beer….This box of crap/
All the things you’ve got to wrap.” This is all sung with delicate aplomb and when Pete stops Andrea’s soulful and heavenly singing makes it hard to hear her words. It’s a sweet song, and her singing will entice to find their other albums. Songs to Trim Your Tree By is a homemade collection of ageless holiday songs. It will be sold
for $5 and for a limited time come with a handmade Christmas ornament.
Brian Tucker
butterflies.bandcamp.com/album/
butterflies-and -birds-arrows-songs-to-
trim-your-tree-by
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
CARRBORO MUSIC FESTIVAL 09 – DAILY TAR HEEL
“Birds and Arrows played at Open Eye, blending its soulful melodies with the occasional whir of an espresso machine. As singer Andrea Connolly crooned, husband Pete Connolly contributed on drums. While the cellist (Josh Starmer) who played with the couple wasn’t a part of the marital bliss, the combined sounds of guitar, drums, and cello made for music that could strike love into the heart of any embittered Carrboro townie. A constant stream of people entered the coffee shop throughout the set, and at the end of Birds and Arrows’ performance, the venue was packed with standing festival attendees.” LG
Killer Filler - DTH
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
BALTIMORE CITY PAPER
By Al Shipley | Posted 5/29/2009
The Thursday show was opened by Porcelain Doll Club, a solo singer/songwriter who appeared a little nervous and inexperienced, but gave a pleasant, ingratiating performance. The real gem of the show was the other opener, Birds and Arrows, a husband/wife duo from North Carolina. Singer/guitarist Andrea Connolly’s sweetly smoky voice and twangy tunes with Pete Connolly’s complementary harmonies and bombastic drums combined to create one of the more complete, full-bodied sounds ever to come out of a two-person band. The only frustrating thing, however, was that the killer standout of Birds and Arrows’ set, “Not Interested,” is a newer tune not yet available on record. But, like Kadman, their previews of unreleased songs made a good case for keeping an eye out for a future release date.
——————————————————————————————
——————————————————————————————
WOODGRAIN HEART
BIRDS & ARROWS (2008)
Woodgrain Heart is our second ep which we recently released in 2008. We are selling this and our first ep for $5.00. Please contact us at birdsandarrows@gmail.com if you are interested in purchasing one. All songs are written, recorded and released by Birds & Arrows.
Album Review in Independent Weekly
(a Durham/Raleigh/Chapel Hill Publication)
Birds & Arrows’ Woodgrain Heart
(self-released)
14 JAN 2009 • by Grayson Currin
The packaging for Woodgrain Heart, the debut EP from Chapel Hill duo Birds & Arrows, consists of a slim cardboard sleeve that’s been spray painted a deep cerulean shade, the band’s name written in a comfortable, slightly sloppy script across the top in coarse black marker. A rudimentary cutout of a human heart printed onto the sort of lumber laminate you’d use to line kitchen cabinets sits at the middle. Tucked inside, the liner notes are printed onto a single sheet of tawny paper with doodles and lyrics and acknowledgments packed onto one side, pictures of price tags and the band set in a grid on the other. It’s a decidedly handmade production, the sort of thing bandmates attached at the hip make while watching the sun come up, an old record spinning on a nearby stereo.
Indeed, Pete and Andrea Connolly (neé Nell) wed in October, becoming the most recent addition to the Triangle’s excellent collegium of married bands that includes The Rosebuds, Work Clothes and Waumiss. And their work—warm, emotional, poetic folk music played tenderly and gingerly—thrives on the relationship’s intimacy, spinning songs from domestic images like the blue flickering flame of a gas burner and the trove of persistent memories that remain like love’s kindling. Andrea, who sings and plays guitar in the bluegrass quartet Sweet By & By, takes the lead on three of the EP’s six tracks, turning in a slow-burning performance on opener “Garden Shed” and layering her reverb-tinged vocals over banjo and handclaps on the title track. With a voice that’s as workmanlike as it is worn, Pete adds a jangly lift to his tracks, like the mandolin-abetted “Old Man Winter” or the structurally convoluted “Black Shoes.” But, as things should be, the Connollys sound best when they sing together, their complementary voices wrapping together in rustic contentment and comfort, like a happy pair making music because that’s how love makes them feel. These six splendid songs beg for those feelings to continue.
Birds & Arrows plays Friday, Jan. 16, with Gray Young at The Cave. The late show begins at 10 p.m.
1 COMMENT
Hey, Thanks for reviewing Woodgrain Heart. I saw them on Friday night at BCHQ and they were amazing. I can’t stop listening to this record. Mt~
