MP3 Sarah Pinsker - Wingspan

Lyric stories and muscular guitar combine to create "blissfully ragged melodicism" (Baltimore Magazine).

5 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Modern Folk, ROCK: Folk Rock



Details:
Wingspan is not a concept album: it is a patchwork quilt, a story in unrelated parts. Five songs, narrated by five characters. There is a narrative arc travelling from the resigned roll-with-it of "Too Many Questions", to the defiant strength of "Think Again". Sarah's graffitti artist in "Cavedrawing" shines with electricity; her cartoon roadrunner realizes that "the anvil is always the last thing to hit/the trick is not to be under it". The cover photo of a child running on the beach, seemingly about to take flight, fearless and full of potential, is echoed in each song.

At the heart of the collection is the title song "Wingspan". Sarah credits the genesis of the song to her self-possessed younger sister, Amira, a martial artist. As the story goes, Amira was walking down the street one day when she suddenly flung out her arms and exclaimed "Look at my wingspan!" In the tradition of sisters, Sarah stole the line and adapted it; also in the tradition of sisters, Amira denies the event. In any case, it is a song about being and becoming, filled with self-realization that is at once personal and universal.

Wingspan features a number of musical luminaries, including international recording artist SONiA of disappear fear, and rising folk sensation We're About 9.

The track "Think Again" was recorded live at legendary Atlanta club Eddie's Attic, an early stomping ground for such acts as the Indigo Girls, John Mayer, and Shawn Mullins. Carol Statella, a violist in the Georgia Sinfonia and an on-call violist with the Atlanta Opera Orchestra, sat in that night. She had never heard Sarah's music before - the haunting part she created was entirely improvised. Carol has also participated in recording sessions for Sinead O'Connor, Blaque, and Donnell Jones.

Wingspan was recorded and mixed at Barking Beagle Studios, and mastered at Secret Sound, which has produced records by such fine acts as disappear fear, Carl Filipiak, and O'Malley's March.