A Shimmer of Sparrows, a Freight Train, and a White-Winged Dove
This week’s recording from the porch is dense. There is a lot to listen to. I set up an extra mic in the middle of the yard to pick up more birds and street sounds and boy howdy, did it deliver. At one point a group of sparrows, which I am going to call a “shimmer,” joined a chorus of a distant train and a white-winged dove soloist. Trying to make the guitar sound just another orchestra member, I also added a bit of spacey echo to the sparrow’s song. The picture is from a little earlier in the year when we had a series of magenta sunsets.
I hope this pleasant complexity is a respite and a welcome intrusion into your inbox. Art is healing!
I hope this pleasant complexity is a respite and a welcome intrusion into your inbox. Art is healing!
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UPCOMING PSO EVENTS
Performance Saturday, March 28, with discovery sets beginning at 11am and 1pm at Shield Ranch.Paul and I will be pulling up to play and hang out in a shady portion of the Sacred Path this weekend. Shield Ranch is 37,000 acres of Central Texas goodness that functions as a conservation easement, nature lab and experience center, and much more.
Wild for Good is a day celebrating wildflower blooms and the Shield Ranch community. We are so happy to be involved and are just one of the many activities and things to see on Saturday.
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GET THE SLOW BELL BOOK + RECORDINGS
1. Stream tracks for free here.2. Your favorite streaming services (except if your fav is Spotify, which should be nobody’s favorite at this point) should have it up by the time this gets posted, but for sure by 2.15.2026.
3. Get the cassette by itself (or bundled with the book) and/or download on Bandcamp.
4. Get the book by itself (or with the cassette in a bundle) on Metalabel. You get free downloads if you buy the book or the bundle and can even just download the files there too.
5. Buy the book in Galveston or at the Dallas Art Fair later this spring from Rising Tide Projects .
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LETS'S MAKE SOMETHING TOGETHER
I love to collaborate, remotely or in person, but if you have a piece you would like to feature on PSO (without contributions by me), by all means, please reach out!Email us at info(at)porchswingorchestra.org
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ABOUT PSO
Porch Swing Orchestra is an art project begun by Barry Stone that explores the interplay between still images and sound.Photographs and musical improvisations build a framework for deep listening and visual contemplation. Barry Stone plays acoustic guitar with a Fahey-inspired picking style mixed in with electronic effects, like My Bloody Valentine for a campfire. The sounds of the outside—bird calls, stray conversations, passing cars—become part of the music.
Stone scrambles the code and layers images taken on-site to produce new imaginaries. We discover fresh ways to see and hear everything.
Since 2018, PSO has collaborated with dozens of musicians, artists, poets, writers, and activists to publish over 240 unique combinations of images and sounds.
Most PSO pieces are made on Stone’s front porch in Austin, Texas, but PSO has traveled to Spiral Jetty in Utah, the border town of Del Rio, Texas, Maine, the San Juan Islands, and performes live in unconventional venues such as the James Turrell Skyspace, The Color Inside as a part of The University of Texas Landmarks Songs in the Skyspace Program.
Each new piece displaces the last and is not archived on the site. Never miss a piece or performance by signing up for our FREE NEWSLETTER below.
To experience selected past pieces, listen to the PSO RADIO, or tune into our PODCAST, or stream us on SPOTIFY in the links below.
Releases can be purchased on BANDCAMP or at BARRYSTONE.COM
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PSO JUKEBOX
Listen and view a stream of randomly selected past PSO pieces!
Exclusively here at PSO HQ.
Click on the PSO JUKEBOX Icon to Start the Stream
Exclusively here at PSO HQ.
Click on the PSO JUKEBOX Icon to Start the Stream
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LISTEN TO THE PSO PODCAST
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Orchestra Players:
Gregory Brooks, Bob Warner, Emily Scarlet Kramer, Rainey Knudson, Ryan Lauderdale, Tamara Gonzales, Katy Chrisler, Gibson + Recoder, Paul Stautinger, Sarah Hennies, Eric Zimmerman, Matt Bauer, Sandy Carson, Ryan Rhodes, Rebecca Marino, Shannon Spurgeon, Aaron Winslow, Ivy Stone, Mark Menjivar, Gavin Watts, Ryan Sprott, Brad Tucker, Caleb Churchill, John Hunt, Audra Wolowiec, Lauren Grant, Bill McCullough, Henry Smith, Anthony Francis, Xavier Gilmore, Ana Treviño, Ariana Gomez, Jessica Mallios, Thomas Hooper, SKLOSS, The Reformers, Zuriel Waters, Joe Williams, Jason Reed, Adam Henry, Saumon Oboudiyat, Hannah Spector
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