Mucho Picnic by Harry Bird (2023 album)
"Mucho Picnic" is Harry Bird's first self produced solo album.
The songs themselves were written in the years surrounding his move from Bilbao, where he lived for fifteen years, to his current base in Glasgow. Featuring a cast of old friends and new, the twelve tracks are a mix of home, remote and studio recordings made between March 2020 and March 2023.
Taking its name from an old but unused artistic pseudonym, “Mucho Picnic” explores narratives of desire/uncertainty, future/nostalgia, national/self identity and blame in pandemic and Brexit era Britain.
Big Picnic. What never was but could have been and still just might be. Maybe. "What happens next is anybody's guess".
Tracklist
| 1. | Doctor Road | 4:01 |
| 2. | Bead Off a String | 4:26 |
| 3. | Artekale Killjoy | 3:43 |
| 4. | Cornering at Speed | 3:22 |
| 5. | Pigs in the Grass | 4:09 |
| 6. | Big Freeze | 1:50 |
| 7. | Old Pioneers | 5:14 |
| 8. | Fruit Machine | 3:14 |
| 9. | Rule Britannia | 3:30 |
| 10. | Cerberus | 2:44 |
| 11. | Este Lugar | 3:20 |
| 12. | New to this City | 3:47 |
Credits
Harry Bird - acoustic, spanish and electric guitar; clarinet; harmonica; organ; synth; melodica; vocals
Adam Sinclair - drums and percussion (all tracks except 6,10)
Ian “Dodge” Paterson - bass: electric (1,2,3,9,12); fretless electric (8); upright (5,7,11); synth (12)
Gavin McGinty - acoustic guitar (2); electric guitars (3,11,12); vocals (1,2,12)
Robbie Ward - piano (1,2,11,12); rhodes (1,3), jennings (1), synth (2)
Theodore Barnard - acoustic guitar (5,7,11,12); upright bass (6); vocals (1,5,12)
Pepita Emmerichs - mandolin (5,7); strings (1,5,6); vocals (5)
Christophe Capewell - piano (3,4,9)
Phil Cardwell - trumpet (3,9)
Kate Theodore - fiddle (7); vocals (7)
Rise Kagona - electric guitars (8)
Jamie Jauncey - piano (1)
Maria Blackwell - vocals (4)
Rod Jones - electric bass (4)
Barry Nisbet - fiddle (5)
James Cole - banjo (7)
Jamie Bird - vocals (7)
Will Rutter - mandolin (7)
Reggie - snores (most)
All tracks written and produced by Harry Bird
Engineered by:
Harry Bird in Glasgow, Ardormie, Dunkeld, Birnam, Balbriggan and Leith
Robin Wynn Evans at Tpot Studio in Path of Condie (4 days of residential sessions)
Adam Sinclair and Ian “Dodge” Paterson in Newcastle
Robbie Ward and Gavin McGinty in Dundee
Theodore Barnard in Dunkeld and Pepita Emmerichs in Dunkeld and Melbourne
Christophe Capewell in Balbriggan, Will Rutter in Bristol and Barry Nisbet in Cullivoe
Maria Blackwell and Richie Cuskelly in Hobart
Barnaby Thwaites at Open Access Music Studio in Winchester
Rod Jones at Post Electric Studio in Edinburgh
Mixed by Rod Jones at Post Electric Studio in Edinburgh
Mastered by Ed Woods at Ed Woods Mastering
Photography by Beth St John, Hilde Cocquyt and Harry Bird
Album design by Harry Bird with help from Kate Theodore and Eifion Sven-Myer
License
All rights reserved.
Harry Bird has spent the last 15 years touring hundreds of venues all over Europe and beyond with a passion for sharing his lyrically charged music and connecting with audiences of all kinds.
He is a versatile storyteller with a warm, reflexive vocal delivery and a deft rhythmic guitar style.
Original, entertaining and thought provoking, his energetic, feel-good shows are not to be missed.