Folk legend Tom Paxton discovered Jonathan Byrd's music & sent him a quick e-mail, saying, "What a treat to hear someone so deeply rooted in tradition, yet growing in his own beautiful way." He had just released "Wildflowers," in late 2001, simple tales of love and death that seemed to be a hundred years old or more. In 2003 Byrd released his second album, "The Waitress" & won the prestigious New Folk competition in Kerrville, TX. That year, he set CD sales records at the festival. For his third album, Jonathan approached his friends, the critically acclaimed world-music duo known as Dromedary, often featured on National Public Radio's All Things Considered. "The Sea and The Sky" is the result, a vast, poetic suite of music that weds world sounds to deeply rooted folk balladry. native of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Jonathan grew up singing in the Southern Baptist church, where his father preached and his mother played piano. After four years in the Navy, he returned to Chapel Hill to play in rock bands in that legendary underground music scene. A friend of Jonathan's invited him to an old-time fiddle festival in the mountains of southwest Virginia, where his writing began to change. Assimilating the sounds of southern traditional music, Byrd wrote new songs in an ancient style. One of those first songs was "Velma," a murder ballad based on the true story of Velma Barfield, the last woman to be executed in North Carolina (in 1984) & the murderer of Jonathan's own grandfather. This track prompted Tom Paxton ‘s e-mail. As Jonathan grows into a contemporary artist of increasing influence, his traditional roots are always evident in his simple, poetic storytelling and classic flat pick guitar style. But, as quoted in a recent interview for Dirty Linen magazine, Jonathan says, "Everything I do is a departure from what I've done." "The Sea and the Sky" is certainly evidence of that. Keep an ear out for an upcoming electric album, sure to take us further out on a limb without forgetting our roots

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