''Birds Flying Away'' is the second album by

Mason Jennings Mason Jennings is an American folk-pop singer-songwriter. Biography Born in Hawaii, Jennings moved with his family to Pittsburgh at an early age. Jennings learned to play guitar at the age of 13, when he began writing songs. Jennings later dro ...

. It was released in January

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

by the label

Bar/None Bar/None Records is an independent record label based in Hoboken, New Jersey. Early history Tom Prendergast started Bar/None in early 1986 in Hoboken, New Jersey. Having previously worked in pirate radio and booked and promoted bands in his n ...

. While writing this album, the drummer Chris Stock left and was replaced. Jennings had another setback for six months when he contracted mononucleosis, which delayed the release of the album. Jennings is compared to Dave Matthews in a ''New York Times'' review. Unlike the debut, the album included several songs with political themes.

Critical reception

City Pages ''City Pages'' was an alternative newspaper serving the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area. It featured news, film, theatre and restaurant reviews and music criticism, available free every Wednesday. It ceased publication in 2020 due to a ...

'' called ''Birds Flying Away'' Jennings's best album, in a 2016 ranking, writing that "his blend of acoustic storytelling, historical themes, and funky instrumentation (there’s an alto-saxophone solo on the politically/historically charged 'Black Panther') makes for a perfect mix."

Track listing

# "Confidant" - 3:47 # "United States Global Empire" - 3:02 # "Ballad for My One True Love" - 4:32 # "Black Panther" - 3:58 # "Dr. King" - 3:24 # "Stars Shine Quietly" - 3:49 # "Birds Flying Away" - 3:13 # "The Mountain" - 4:15 # "Duluth" - 3:03 # "Train Leaving Gray" - 2:20 # "The Light" - 4:23

Personnel

* Mason Jennings - guitar, vocals, producer * Bob Skoro - bass guitar, vocals, assistant producer * Edgar Oliveria - drums * Chris Thompson - alto saxophone * Dave Gardner - mastering *

Ed Ackerson Ed Ackerson (July 18, 1965 – October 4, 2019) was an American musician and producer from Minneapolis. He produced or engineered dozens of records including works by prominent artists such as The Jayhawks, The Replacements, Motion City Soundtra ...

- producer, engineer * Tom Garneau - engineer * Camron Wittig - design, photography

References

External links

Discography
2000 albums Mason Jennings albums {{2000s-folk-album-stub