Lyal Strickland “Birds” (featuring Rachel Laven)
Americana Highways is hosting this premiere of Lyal Strickland’s song “Birds” featuring Rachel Laven on vocals. “Birds” is part of his forthcoming album Shooter of Truth, which is set for release on October 16. This song will be available on August 21. Shooter of Truth was co-produced by Adam Dawson and Lyal Strickland, and recorded, mixed, and mastered at by Jeff Smith at Studio 2100.
“Birds” is Lyal Strickland on vocals and guitar, Rachel Laven on duet vocals, and Molly Healey on cello.
Lyal talks about the song, “I didn’t write this as a duet, but in the studio my producer, Adam Dawson, suggested we try it. It turns out I was writing from multiple sides of the situation. Once that decision was made, I immediately thought of bringing in Rachel Laven to sing the female part and she came in and killed it. Birds is about running yourself ragged, chasing something that’s chaotic and destructive, and then building something back from the pieces when you catch it. It’s a song about putting yourself through the ringer because you want the story on the other side.”
Rustic and folksy with a fully organic vibe, this is a song of heartache with a connection to the natural world as comfort. Even with toxicity in a relationship there’s emotion, love, and hope amidst the devastation. This all goes down on a low cello and acoustic guitar foundation, with the clear vocal tones of Rachel Laven offset by Lyal’s gruff baseline, and the sentiment we’ve all felt: “I ought to know better by now,”
Find more details here on his website: https://lyalstrickland.com/
Enjoy our previous coverage here: REVIEW: Lyal Strickland “Ghost Light at the Gillioz”