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"My Muse" is a fanciful reflection on that spirit or force that inspires our creativity. The muse, in this case, is personified into a siren of sorts - an imagined romantic object of affection. "My muse is hard to find / can hardly call her mine / where she goes I never know / Playful as the breeze / she walks away with ease / to love her is to let her go..." And of course what could better showcase romance than a flugelhorn solo? This song is one of Rob's favorite to sing and play on - the chords are jazzy, the vocal melody soars to heights that are challenging, the horn lines flow like butter without trying too hard, and the whole track is ultimately intoxicating. Love, loss and longing are all present and accounted for in this one.

My Muse

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"My Muse" is a fanciful reflection on that spirit or force that inspires our creativity. The muse, in this case, is personified into a siren of sorts - an imagined romantic object of affection. "My muse is hard to find / can hardly call her mine / where she goes I never know / Playful as the breeze / she walks away with ease / to love her is to let her go..." And of course what could better showcase romance than a flugelhorn solo? This song is one of Rob's favorite to sing and play on - the chords are jazzy, the vocal melody soars to heights that are challenging, the horn lines flow like butter without trying too hard, and the whole track is ultimately intoxicating. Love, loss and longing are all present and accounted for in this one.

"Nobody's Business" features the multi-talented Nick Rivard on slide and rhythm guitar. Rob's vocal has a slight "telephone" or "can" tone to not only sonically evoke a retro and bygone age, but to shoot a lyrical arrow squarely at the 21st century digital age (i.e., privacy concerns, marriage inequality, etc.). Rob actually played/constructed the drum parts from his own kit, played bass (with a pick, which was something new for him), keys and the plunger-inflected trumpet solo. Nick Rivard's guitar contributions were an indispensable icing that finally made the track sound bonifed. "Why do you affect me so / raising up my pulse, you add a flush and a blush to my skin tone... / well that's nobody's business / nobody's business but my own."

Nobody's Business

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"Nobody's Business" features the multi-talented Nick Rivard on slide and rhythm guitar. Rob's vocal has a slight "telephone" or "can" tone to not only sonically evoke a retro and bygone age, but to shoot a lyrical arrow squarely at the 21st century digital age (i.e., privacy concerns, marriage inequality, etc.). Rob actually played/constructed the drum parts from his own kit, played bass (with a pick, which was something new for him), keys and the plunger-inflected trumpet solo. Nick Rivard's guitar contributions were an indispensable icing that finally made the track sound bonifed. "Why do you affect me so / raising up my pulse, you add a flush and a blush to my skin tone... / well that's nobody's business / nobody's business but my own."

"Where U At" was inspired by stories Rob read about some fatal accidents that involved texting while driving. Browsing the internet, Rob came across an article from a while back about a young woman, heading off to meet a new friend at a baseball game, who texted "where u at" while driving - sadly, it was that single act that caused her to be distracted just for a moment, crash, and lose her life. The second verse is based on another incident where a young man texts while driving. Featuring Rob's vocals and horn work, he's playing every instrument here.

Where U At

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"Where U At" was inspired by stories Rob read about some fatal accidents that involved texting while driving. Browsing the internet, Rob came across an article from a while back about a young woman, heading off to meet a new friend at a baseball game, who texted "where u at" while driving - sadly, it was that single act that caused her to be distracted just for a moment, crash, and lose her life. The second verse is based on another incident where a young man texts while driving. Featuring Rob's vocals and horn work, he's playing every instrument here. You can reference the article Rob read that inspired this song here. 

"How Many Times" opens the set and features Rob on vocals and all instruments. After the first verse, Rob plays a flugelhorn solo and then after another verse he switches over to take a tenor sax solo (a relatively new instrument for Rob and somehow almost rivals his flugel solo). Then we hear a bit of musical development and into a short flugelhorn/tenor sax soli. Rob wraps up the tune with the question: "How many times will we close our eyes and ears / to all reason and compassion / see only shadows and not the tears / how many times will we read that sad headline? / looks like one more time..."

How Many Times

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"How Many Times" opens the set and features Rob on vocals and all instruments. After the first verse, Rob plays a flugelhorn solo and then after another verse he switches over to take a tenor sax solo (a relatively new instrument for Rob and somehow almost rivals his flugel solo). Then we hear a bit of musical development and into a short flugelhorn/tenor sax soli. Rob wraps up the tune with the question: "How many times will we close our eyes and ears / to all reason and compassion / see only shadows and not the tears / how many times will we read that sad headline? / looks like one more time..."

Beautiful Moments

This song is about memories - poignant times in life. "I can Google your name / but I won't find a trace / of those beautiful moments / from another time and place..." 

I'd written this song a while back but could never figure out how to record it (and perhaps I wasn't ready - maybe I'm still not!) - my own demos on vocal/piano just didn't seem to capture that special "something." So I made a date with fellow Lubian and musician/composer extraordinaire Dave Leslie. We recorded other tracks, but for this particular one I set up my three chinsy video cameras to (hopefully) capture a "live" performance. And we did! First take too. Dave was definitely that special "something" - with his playing I could feed off his energy and together we made this very special recording. I hope you enjoy it.

  • Beautiful Moments - words and music by Rob Birdwell
  • Dave Leslie - piano 
  • Rob Birdwell - vocals

Swimming Upstream

This lyric video tells the story of a little fish in a big strong river, swimming upstream. Oh, the things he sees - but how will it end for him? Will he be wise and learn from his journey? Watch and listen to find out!

Credits:

  • Swimming Upstream - words and music by Rob Birdwell
  • Creighton Lindsay: guitar
  • Rob Birdwell: vocals, keys, bass, horns, drums, percussion