no. 264 | Praire Chicken Disco, October 1, 2026
Prairie Chickens are amazing! Each spring, in a mating ritual, the males stomp their feet, inflate bright orange air sacs, and make an eerie booming call in clearings called leks. They are critically endangered but are making a comeback, thanks to the efforts of places like the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge near Eagle Lake and private ranches in Goliad County.
For PSO no. 264, my longtime friend, inveterate storyteller, and executive producer of the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV show, Abe Moore, filmed this postcard of the chickens doing their thing.
From there, things got a little out of control. I started with some spacey slide guitar but ended up with a track fit for the club! I added a little disco lighting to Abe's perfectly sequenced video postcard
This is not the first video PSO post, but it's the best one yet!
It was after moving to Lincoln, Nebraska, that Abe realized you don't have to cover "city budget" stories all the time; there is a world of nature stories waiting to be told. This led to a career-changing move into nature television as the host of Outdoor Nebraska, a weekly outdoor and nature show that aired statewide on PBS.
After hosting Outdoor Nebraska, Abe made his way to the Lone Star State as a producer for Texas Parks and Wildlife Television. He has been telling stories here for 22 years now, and he stepped into the executive producer role in 2021.
For PSO no. 264, my longtime friend, inveterate storyteller, and executive producer of the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV show, Abe Moore, filmed this postcard of the chickens doing their thing.
From there, things got a little out of control. I started with some spacey slide guitar but ended up with a track fit for the club! I added a little disco lighting to Abe's perfectly sequenced video postcard
This is not the first video PSO post, but it's the best one yet!
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B-SIDE
This week's B-side selection is from way back in March 2019: PSO no. 48 | Chicken on the Porch Swing Pickin' Out Dough. It's a jaunty number inspired by the two show hens who wandered into our yard.︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿
ABOUT ABE MOORE
Abe Moore has been telling stories for 30 years. He started in Great Falls, Montana, as a weekend anchor and weekday reporter.It was after moving to Lincoln, Nebraska, that Abe realized you don't have to cover "city budget" stories all the time; there is a world of nature stories waiting to be told. This led to a career-changing move into nature television as the host of Outdoor Nebraska, a weekly outdoor and nature show that aired statewide on PBS.
After hosting Outdoor Nebraska, Abe made his way to the Lone Star State as a producer for Texas Parks and Wildlife Television. He has been telling stories here for 22 years now, and he stepped into the executive producer role in 2021.
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UPCOMING PSO LIVE PERFORMANCE AND CLOSING RECEPTION
BOOM AND DUSTCO-OPt RESEARCH + PROJECTS
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9TH 7-10PM
4202 Boston Ave, Lubbock, TX 79413
I'm super excited to perform in Lubbock. I was born there and moved away young, but I have fond memories of visiting my grandparents there. Many of the songs I'll perform have a special relationship to this place. My great-grandfather made photographs while stringing telephone wire from Montana to Lubbock, where he settled and, sadly, died young. My parents met there, and their loss in 2025 inspired many of the songs as well.
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 — THE WEB PROJECT
Porch Swing Orchestra is an art project begun on the web by Barry Stone that explores the interplay between still images, sound, and place.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 channel chance operations into new imaginaries.
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, and the San Juan Islands.
Each piece consists of a paired image and audio recording taken on site, uploaded to a standalone fullscreen homepage. Each piece is displaced by new pairs of audio and image. Past pieces can be accessed and streamed randomly via the PSO RADIO page.
Since 2018, PSO has collaborated with dozens of musicians, artists, poets, writers, and activists to publish over 240 unique combinations of images and sounds.
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PSO PERFORMANCE
PSO performs live in unconventional venues such as Shield Ranch and the James Turrell Skyspace, The Color Inside, as a part of The University of Texas Landmarks Songs in the Skyspace Program. PSO was commissioned to create a unique set of visuals and audio compositions for the Texas Historical Commission for the Sounds of Liberty Hill Event Series at the French Legation in Austin, Texas.Original projected imagery accompanies an immersive audio experience which can comprise field recordings, acoustic guitars, e-bow, synths, piano, and singing. PSO plays solo and often with others such as Bill McCullough, Leslie Moody Castro, and longtime collaborator Paul Stautinger.
PSO also curated a series of live events, VAST IS THE SEA, at Co-Lab Projects in Austin, in which 8 artists presented works combining images and sound over four weekends.
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PSO EXHIBITS
PSO has been the subject of many gallery presentations. PSO has exhibited in solo shows at Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery in New York, ICOSA in Austin as a Soundscape artist, and the Galveston Arts Center.︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿
PSO RELEASES
PSO has released two full length lathe cut vinyl records, a full length CD, a split virtual seven inch EP with The Reformers, and two Cassette EPs.Releases can be purchased on BANDCAMP or at BARRYSTONE.COM
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To experience selected past pieces, listen to the PSO RADIO, or stream us on TIDAL in the links below.
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ALL NEW PSO RADIO
Listen and view a stream of randomly selected past PSO pieces rendered in fullscreen glory!
Exclusively here at PSO HQ.
Click on the PSO RADIO Icon to Start the Stream
Exclusively here at PSO HQ.
Click on the PSO RADIO Icon to Start the Stream
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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, Thomas Hooper, SKLOSS, The Reformers, Zuriel Waters, Joe Williams, Jason Reed, Adam Henry, Saumon Oboudiyat, Hannah Spector, Leslie Moody Castro, Lauren Klotzman, Joey Fauerso, Jessica Mallios, Pete Stiles, Matt Bauer, Rahim Fortune, Abe Moore
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