NPR Appearance - The Lord God Bird

From Soundsfamilyre:

NPR producers Elizabeth Meister and Dan Collison (together known as Long Haul Productions) were curious about the process that Sufjan Stevens goes through when writing songs for his 50 States Project albums.

They came up with the idea of picking a city with a good story, travelling there and recording interviews with the locals, then sending the resulting tapes to Sufjan and asking him to compose a song about the town. They have produced a 12 minute piece for NPR’s All Things Considered which will combine audio clips collected from their trip and Sufjan’s original composition.

Meister and Collison introduced Sufjan to the city of Brinkley, Arkansas. The Ivory Billed Woodpecker was thought to be extinct — until recently, when it was rediscovered near the small town of Brinkley. The sightings were big news in a community depressed by recession and population loss.

The resulting Sufjan track is titled “The Lord God Bird,” since the ivory-bill is often referred to as the “lord god” or “great god” bird because of its breathtaking appearance. The track will be made available exclusively as a free download on the NPR website starting on July 6.

Listen to the story of Brinkley, Arkansas and download “The Lord God Bird” MP3: NPR All Things Considered - July 6, 2005 OR Long Haul Productions.

Picture by: Ralph Bemont, used by permission.

Note: “The Lord God Bird” is only available from NPR and Long Haul and does not yet appear on any album.

Long Haul Update, July 2005:

“The Lord God Bird,” our collaboration with musician Sufjan Stevens, is now available as a downloadable MP3 from our website. You also can download Stevens’ original song there in MP3 form.

We received encouraging email — much more than usual — after the broadcast, and are strongly considering doing more of these song-stories. Please send us your feedback — positive or negative. Emails give us a sense of what’s working, and they’re especially useful in support of grant applications. Also, if you have ideas for other towns/musicians you think might be a good fit on future stories, pass them along.

July 13th, 2005 admin

Entry Filed under: Radio Appearances, Songwriting