This Hummingbird by Robert Bittner

Probably the biggest pop/rock influence was and is The Beatles (as a group as well as solo songwriters/performers), followed by Queen, Mike Oldfield, Gerry Rafferty, Abba, ELO, Prince, Kate Bush, Shakira, Peter Gabriel, Sarah McLachlan, Alanis Morissette, Fleetwood Mac/Lindsey Buckingham, Larry Norman, Keith Green, Daniel Amos (a group, not a person), Sinead O'Connor, Emmylou Harris, Joan Jett, Sam Phillips (AKA Leslie Phillips), Goldfrapp, Imogen Heap, K.T. Tunstall, Evanescence, Amy Grant -- and on and on and on. And I'm discovering wonderful new artists all the time -- as well as older artists I somehow overlooked during the last 40 years of pop/rock/r&b history!

Given the above roster of artists, you can see that I’m really all over the map when it comes to what I like. And that’s reflected a bit in “This Hummingbird.” I realize that can make things tough for folks who are trying to decide whether to spend money on someone they haven’t really heard and have never seen perform. (Apart from playing in a band at church, my music is entirely studio-based.) So, I’d encourage you to give a listen to the samples included here. You’ll hear everything from a pop/dance tune (“Worthless Girl”) to Def Leppard-inspired classic-rock guitars (on “Brighter Day”), from an acoustic folk song (“Bodee’s Rendezvous”) to a “pop”-py paeon to my favorite TV witch, Samantha Stevens.

I recently read an editorial in a recording magazine in which the writer said something to the effect that, “if you’re writing all of your music on your own, recording everything on your own, and producing a CD entirely on your own, is it any wonder that you’re the only person in the world who actually likes it?” Since I do write, perform, and record everything myself -- and, of course, take full responsibility for the results! -- those were pretty sobering words. But I’ve heard from enough other listeners to know that’s not the case with “This Hummingbird.” I hope you will be one of those listeners who enjoys listening to it as much I enjoyed creating it.

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