Zack Foley

A Bird in the Hand is a manifestation of my explorations into the world of fuzz pedals that took place against the backdrop of burning out as a social worker during the pandemic and moving from Brooklyn to Texas to care for my father, which in turn triggered generational trauma with my mother. So making A Bird in the Hand was a very personal journey of revelation and self-discovery. Just before the pandemic hit, I began exploring guitar-based effects after visiting Ryan Ferreira's Brooklyn studio, where I was riveted by the depth of Ryan's sound and his infinitely creative relationship with modulation and processing. For years I'd been struggling to express with my “acoustic” voice the sounds I was hearing in my head. With encouragement from Ryan and other guitarist buddies, I started messing around first with delays and reverbs and eventually with overdrive and fuzz pedals. Fuzz was the game changer. Happily falling down the rabbit hole of fuzz, I found my way to the beloved "Germanium Fuzz Face," which imbues my voice with the loveliest characteristics of fuzz while retaining my core vocal sound. Fuzz opened singing to more creativity and fun, and as I burned the midnight oil, melodies began emerging out of open-ended improvisations. Here were the origin and material for my new record, A Bird in the Hand. I'm lucky to be able to make music with guitarist Ryan Ferreira and bassist Chris Tordini. Ryan’s grounded vibe, the space he creates when he plays, and his gorgeous sounds help me to feel relaxed and comfortable in my own skin, to let the music breathe, to let the sounds lead the way. Chris is my favorite bass player. He has exquisite taste and every note that man plays is life-affirming and is just the best damn note there is for that moment. We played a handful of shows together in 2018-2019 under the moniker, Heavy Lettuce. Four songs on the record ("Nooch Lady," "A Bird in the Hand," "Flavor Heat," and "Bodo Beya") feature this trio. Two songs, "Inward" and "Outward," are fully improvised “duets.” On these two tracks, I sing with my fuzz rig into Ryan’s H9000 processor. Ryan is processing/modulating my voice in real-time while I am responding in real-time to what he is doing, i.e. I have a "conversation with myself" of sorts, creating a fuzzy vocal landscape. "Inward" and "Outward" were true one-off improvisations, and I liked them so much that they ended up on the record. The album closes with a more traditional voice and guitar duet called "Analog Sun." The landscape of the Texas Hill Country is another important contributor to this record. Moving to Texas from Brooklyn afforded me long hours of driving along winding, county Texas roads, listening to music and taking in the big sky, the rolling hills, the rivers and the streams. Ryan’s guitar sounds fit this landscape beautifully. The song "A Bird in the Hand is worth Two in the Bush" is the perfect soundtrack for a drive in the country or the desert. A Bird in the Band is a genuine artistic statement and serious foray into the possibilities open to the human voice as a jazz instrument. By using fuzz, I was for the first time able to express the sounds that I've been hearing for so long in my head, allowing me to escape my body and enter into a more instrumental landscape, one that I feel truly at home in. This is also the first record I have released with completely original material. The music on A Bird in the Hand was deeply inspired by guitarist and mentor, David Torn, a fuzz and sound pioneer who has influenced generations of musicians. David continues to make riveting works of art and has been insanely generous with his time and insights. I am forever grateful for the music and friendship of Jason Moran and the Bandwagon, for Keith Jarrett’s American Quartet, for Thom Yorke with Radiohead and The Smile, for Tim Berne’s bands, for Betty Carter, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, Pat Matheny, Paul McCartney, and Neil Young. I am also inspired and encouraged by my friendships with Robert Glasper and Brad Mehldau. I consider my music to be in the lineage of Houston pianist Dave Catney, who tragically passed away in 1994 at age 33. Dave showed me the way, and I wish for my music to be a continuation for him.