Music
This is why we're here, folks
Cackalack | 2011
Having recently made WFMT Midnight Special host Rich Warren's "50 Most Significant Songwriters of the Past 50 Years", a list which includes giants like Bob Dylan, John Prine, and Joni Mitchell, Jonathan approaches his work on Cackalack with the most ordinary of materials: Chicken wire. Concrete. Roofing tacks. He takes us to real, everyday places. The Outer Banks, where wild ponies still run. Rockwell, where Byrd sings a song to his father's ashes. And 95 South, a great river of humanity that brings us rolling back south from a hard tour. More Info »
- Chicken Wire
- Wild Ponies
- I Was an Oak Tree
- Reckon I Did
- New Moon Rise
- Dungarees Overalls
- Father's Day
- White Oak Wood
- Scuppernong
- Cackalack!
The Law and the Lonesome | 2008
A stalwart of modern folk music, Jonathan constantly evolves in new musical directions and each incarnation has proven to be masterful. The Law and the Lonesome brings together the best of his southern roots and the increasingly strong influence of Texas. Full of desperate people and their dark familiars- crows, coyotes, and sudden storms- The Law and the Lonesome has an epic feel. More Info »
- The Law and the Lonesome
- Clean
- Diana Jones
- Houston Window Blues
- The Fifth Wheel
- Prairie Girl
- May the River Run Dry
- Coyote
- Soldier's Lullaby
- Galveston
This is the New That | 2007
Jonathan Byrd delivers a convincing and thrilling rock and roll album, full of ace songwriting and musicianship. It's distinctly Southern in feeling, full of character and characters crossing paths and swords in a world pierced through with incomprehensible forces. The ever-evolving Byrd mentions as influences, Bob Dylan, Anais Mitchell, The Beatles & Merle Haggard. More Info »
- The Cocaine Kid
- Colleen
- Jesus was a Bootlegger
- Hank
- Sexy Jessie
- Austin Women
- The Cold & Hungry Night
- Learn to Rock 'n' Roll
- Amelia, My Dream
- I Want You
- The Bishop & The Ghost of the Nazarene
- Jacks
The Waitress | 2002
"...my discovery of the year. Byrd is right up there with the best of them with a twist and turn of phrase, a facile use of language and the ability to tell a story straight into your heart. This is an unforgettable CD." -Rich Warren, WFMT More Info »
- The Waitress
- The Ballad of Larry
- Radio
- The Snake Song
- Down the Old Mountain Road
- My Generation
- Small Town
- Tape Full of Love Songs
- Stackalee
- Home Sweet Home
- Being With You
- Fiddle and Bow
- Rosie
Wildflowers | 2001
Jonathan's career started with a contest. In the year 2000, Byrd took grand prize in the North Carolina Songwriter's Coop Song contest in his hometown of Carrboro, NC. Inspired, he began to tour and recorded his first CD, Wildflowers. With spare production, these lyrical tales of love and death made a surprising impact. Folk legend Tom Paxton discovered Byrd's music online: "What a treat to hear someone so deeply rooted in tradition, yet growing in his own beautiful way." More Info »
- Wildflowers
- Eli's Cotton Gin
- Velma
- Lady's Fancy
- Sandy Mush
- Golden Glow of Autumn
- Tinytown
- Ashe County Fair
- Bean an Fhir Rua/Backstep Cindy
- The Sparrow
- Mama
- Molly Dear
- Big Hoedown
- The Cider Song
- Her Eyes Were Green
- Robena






















