{"id":2314,"date":"2010-01-29T12:34:31","date_gmt":"2010-01-29T20:34:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/?p=2314"},"modified":"2011-11-05T21:06:55","modified_gmt":"2011-11-06T01:06:55","slug":"gimme-five-pete-and-andrea-connolly-of-birds-and-arrows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/2010\/01\/gimme-five-pete-and-andrea-connolly-of-birds-and-arrows\/","title":{"rendered":"Gimme Five! Pete and Andrea Connolly of Birds and Arrows"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2317 alignleft\" title=\"birdsandarrows\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/birdsandarrows3.jpg\" alt=\"birdsandarrows\" width=\"211\" height=\"228\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/birdsandarrows3.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/birdsandarrows3-276x300.jpg 276w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 211px) 100vw, 211px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>There is a violent tension in the moniker <a href=\"http:\/\/www.birdsandarrows.com\/\">Birds and Arrows<\/a>, but the music that couple Pete and Andrea Connolly craft, spins that friction away from brutality and into elegant, elemental heights.\u00c2\u00a0 If you take even just one passing listen to their music, it&#8217;s apparent these are voices that aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t in harmony so much as interlocked.\u00c2\u00a0 It&#8217;s as if two people wandering around the woods suddenly came upon each other and realized they were singing the same song&#8211; a romantic image made all the more apropos because Pete and Andrea are newlyweds.<\/p>\n<p>Cute personal history aside, it&#8217;s the instrumental textures\u00c2\u00a0 and intimate lyrics that should really catch your attention.\u00c2\u00a0 From their debut EP <em>Woodgrain Heart<\/em> to their latest full length<em> Starmaker<\/em>, the Connolly&#8217;s have dreamed up what can only (to my ear) be described as a shimmering deconstructed pop-country sound.\u00c2\u00a0 There&#8217;s a grounded, vintage tone to the arrangements, but a spacey, voyeuristic disconnect in the translation.\u00c2\u00a0 All in all, it&#8217;s a head-scratchingly beautiful mess of music that you can catch at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.myspace.com\/birdsandarrows\">any number of local shows<\/a> coming up in the near future.<\/p>\n<p>So, now that you&#8217;re convinced they&#8217;ve got the musical chops, check how they tackle the furious five:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1.\u00c2\u00a0If your band were a craft project, what would it be?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>PETE and ANDREA:<\/strong> We would be a little boat made out of Popsicle sticks.\u00c2\u00a0 See photo&#8230;&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-2315\" title=\"birdsandarrowspopsicleboat\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/birdsandarrowspopsicleboat-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"birdsandarrowspopsicleboat\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/birdsandarrowspopsicleboat-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/birdsandarrowspopsicleboat.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><br \/>\n<strong>2.\u00c2\u00a0When was the moment you realized there was something to this musical partnership that needed to be shared?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>PETE: <\/strong>When my brother Jon first played me a CD that Andrea had given him of her solo stuff.\u00c2\u00a0 I wanted to play drums, sing or just be a part of it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ANDREA:<\/strong> I would say it was when I found out Pete was such an awesome drummer.\u00c2\u00a0 He made my songs much more interesting.\u00c2\u00a0 and also, the first time we sang harmony together.\u00c2\u00a0 Pete had written me this beautiful (sappy) love song and he would play it for me often and I would sing harmony on the choruses.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3.\u00c2\u00a0Describe your typical PE experience.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>PETE:<\/strong> Getting picked second or third to last due to my height and huge <a href=\"http:\/\/www.learn-about-led.com\/images\/robert-plant.jpg\">Robert Plant hair<\/a> but then the team being pleasantly surprised with my performance&#8230;..if I were even there cause I was probably scoring beer at the local Vietnamese Market.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ANDREA: <\/strong>I always thought I was as strong (if not stronger) than all of the boys.\u00c2\u00a0 Which at the time probably wasn&#8217;t that far off sent most of them were very small and hadn&#8217;t hit puberty yet.\u00c2\u00a0 So, I would end up challenging them to a race or to a pull up contest etc&#8230;\u00c2\u00a0 Pete probably would say I am still like that to this day.\u00c2\u00a0 Trying to prove my strength and never asking for help when lifting my huge amp.<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-2330\" title=\"starmaker\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/starmaker-300x270.jpg\" alt=\"starmaker\" width=\"235\" height=\"211\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/starmaker-300x270.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/starmaker.jpg 531w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 235px) 100vw, 235px\" \/>4.\u00c2\u00a0Who\/what might be a few inspirations or influences that might really surprise people?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>PETE:<\/strong> I would have to say Boston.\u00c2\u00a0 When I was in 7th grade I used to drum on an office chair with rulers to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=mUFZC7uXQZc\">&#8220;Smokin'&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>ANDREA:<\/strong> Babs.\u00c2\u00a0 My mom says (I don&#8217;t remember this very well cause I was 3) whenever she would put on a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=n-KPGh3wysw\">Barbra Streisand<\/a> record I would sing along for awhile and then claim that I could perform it much better.\u00c2\u00a0 So, all my musical career I have been secretly trying to out sing Barbra.<\/p>\n<p><strong>5.\u00c2\u00a0What did you dream of being when you were a kid? (How \u00e2\u20ac\u2122d that turn out?) <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>PETE:<\/strong> I told my mom when I was 5 that I wanted to be a Jet Airplane salesman or I could fall back on being a Rockstar&#8230;.the air industry doesn&#8217;t look so enticing anymore so I&#8217;m working on the Rockstar thing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ANDREA:<\/strong> Well, music and performing is the only thing I have ever done since I could talk.\u00c2\u00a0 So, I would have to say a musician of some kind.\u00c2\u00a0 then, when I picked up a guitar in middle school and got introduced to classic rock I wanted to be Stevie Nicks\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, and I also in the back of my mind wanted to be a vet (like a lot of little kids)\u00c2\u00a0 I loved animals.\u00c2\u00a0 So, I actually tried this for a semester in college and after castrating a pig I realized it wasn&#8217;t for me.\u00c2\u00a0 So, back to the stage.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; \u00e2\u20ac\u201c &#8211; \u00e2\u20ac\u201c &#8211; \u00e2\u20ac\u201c &#8211; \u00e2\u20ac\u201c &#8211; \u00e2\u20ac\u201c &#8211; \u00e2\u20ac\u201c &#8211; \u00e2\u20ac\u201c &#8211; \u00e2\u20ac\u201c &#8211; \u00e2\u20ac\u201c &#8211; \u00e2\u20ac\u201c &#8211; \u00e2\u20ac\u201c &#8211; \u00e2\u20ac\u201c &#8211; \u00e2\u20ac\u201c &#8211; \u00e2\u20ac\u201c &#8211; \u00e2\u20ac\u201c &#8211; \u00e2\u20ac\u201c &#8211; \u00e2\u20ac\u201c &#8211; \u00e2\u20ac\u201c &#8211; \u00e2\u20ac\u201c &#8211; \u00e2\u20ac\u201c &#8211; \u00e2\u20ac\u201c<\/p>\n<p>Please check in next week to see who else will take up the challenge of facing down the five.\u00c2\u00a0 And if you happen catch a Birds and Arrows live&#8211;and you really should&#8211;by all means give Pete or Andrea <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ihighfive.com\/\">a high five<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There is a violent tension in the moniker Birds and Arrows, but the music that couple Pete and Andrea Connolly craft, spins that friction away from brutality and into elegant, elemental heights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":2317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[311],"class_list":["post-2314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","tag-gimme-five"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2314"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2334,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2314\/revisions\/2334"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}