Letters from a Flying Machine explained

Letters from a Flying Machine
Type:	studio album
Artist:	Peter Mulvey
Cover:	LettersFromAFlyingMachine.jpg
Released:	August 11, 2009
Recorded:	January – April 2009
Genre:	Indie, folk
Length:	44:56
Label:	Signature Sounds
Producer:	Dave Chalfant, Peter Mulvey
Prev Title:	Notes from Elsewhere
Prev Year:	2007
Next Title:	The Good Stuff
Next Year:	2012

Letters from a Flying Machine is an album by American singer/songwriter Peter Mulvey, released in 2009.

Letters from a Flying Machine is a collection of new songs and spoken-word "letters" by Mulvey, the letters written while in flight to his nieces and nephews.

Reception

Allmusic's review of the album wrote of the spoken word sections "Most are painful to listen to, lacking the grace and lighthearted humor that mark his songwriting," but wrote the songs "aren't as heavy-handed, even when they take on weighty subjects."

Track listing

All songs by Peter Mulvey unless noted.

1. "Kids in the Square" (Peter Mulvey, Tim Gearan) – 3:43
2. "Some People" – 3:17
3. "Letter from a Flying Machine" [spoken] – 3:02
4. "Windshield" – 3:42
5. "What's Keeping Erica?" (Mulvey, Paul Cebar) – 3:08
6. ". . . Plus the Many Inevitable Fragments" [spoken] – 2:40
7. "Dynamite Bill" (Mulvey, Gearan) – 3:21
8. "Shoulderbirds (You Know Me)" (Mulvey, Gearan) – 3:37
9. "Bears" (spoken) – 3:54
10. "Mailman" – 3:15
11. "Vlad the Astrophysicist" [spoken] – 5:40
12. "On a Wing and a Prayer" (Mulvey, Tim Fagan) – 3:42
13. "Love is Here to Stay" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 1:55

Personnel

• Peter Mulvey – acoustic guitar, vocals, bells
• Kris Delmhorst – vocals
• David "Goody" Goodrich – guitar, slide guitar
• Chris Wagoner – mandolin, violin, viola
• Randy Sabien – violin
• Mary Gaines – cello
• Steve Yarbro – clarinet
• Nathan Kilen – percussion

Production notes

• Produced by Dave Chalfant and Peter Mulvey
• Engineered by Ric Probst and Al Williams
• Mixed by David Chalfant
• Mastered by Ian Kennedy
• Art & Design by Peter Nevins