Bird on a Wire (Toby Lightman album)

Bird on a Wire is the second full-length studio album released by Lava recording artist Toby Lightman. The album peaked at No. 30 on Billboard's Heatseekers Albums chart on 11 August 2006.^[4]

Bird on a Wire
Studio album by Toby Lightman
Released	July 25, 2006 (2006-07-25)
Studio	Henson Studios, Los Angeles, CA.
Genre	Pop Rock
Length	50:56
Label	Lava
Producer	Bill Bottrell Patrick Leonard
Toby Lightman chronology
Little Things (2004) Bird on a Wire (2006) Let Go (2008)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Okayplayer	[1]
AllMusic	[2]
PopMatters	[3]

Critical reception

Candace L. of Okayplayer begins her review with, "The sophomore effort from Toby Lightman is an exciting mix of country blues, rock and R&B.; Filled with insightful lyrics and mature pop, Lightman refuses to be pigeonholed by her teenybopper appearance, skillfully genre-jumping with the confidence of a veteran"^[1]

Marisa Brown of AllMusic writes, "Bird on a Wire's an impressive piece of work from a talented artist who's grown completely into her voice and herself, subtly complex while still retaining the passion and immediacy that makes it such a good listen, touching listeners emotionally as well as intellectually, a feat that's truly hard to attain and absolutely deserves to be praised."^[2]

Mike Joseph of PopMatters says, "Bird on a Wire, Lightman’s sophomore effort, doesn’t deviate much from the formula of her debut. Most of the songs sound tailor-made for adult alternative radio. They have a mature, yet still pop-friendly sound. Again, some of the songs have a pronounced R&B element."^[3]

• See original reviews for full articles. Links can be found in the references section of this article.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Toby Lightman, unless otherwise noted.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Don't Wake Me"		3:40
2.	"Don't Let Go"	Toby Lightman Patrick Leonard	3:56
3.	"Better"		3:55
4.	"Slippin'"		4:25
5.	"Round & Round"	Toby Lightman Patrick Leonard	3:30
6.	"My Sweet Song"	Toby Lightman Peter Zizzo	4:01
7.	"Alone"	Toby Lightman David Harris	3:40
8.	"One Sure Thing"	Toby Lightman Patrick Leonard	4:04
9.	"Overflowing"	Toby Lightman Joseph Hanna	3:33
10.	"Weight of the World"	Toby Lightman Stuart Matthewman	4:02
11.	"Holding Me Down"	Toby Lightman Patrick Leonard	3:18
12.	"I'd Be Lost"	Toby Lightman Patrick Leonard	3:49
13.	"Good Find"		5:03
Total length:			50:56

Bonus Tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
14.	"Front Row (Live)"	Toby Lightman Aaron Albano	3:49
15.	"Alone (Slow Mix)"	Toby Lightman David Harris	4:18
Total length:			59:03

Musicians

• Bill Bottrell – bells, chimes, e-bow, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, drum loops, mellotron, moog synthesizer, organ, pedal steel guitar, piano, string arrangements, synthesizer, Wurlitzer
• Paul Bushnell – bass guitar
• Caroline Campbell – violin
• James Freebarin-Smith – cello
• Neel Hammond – violin
• Joseph Hanna – drums, percussion
• Patrick Leonard – keyboards, lap steel guitar, piano, programming
• Toby Lightman – dobro, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, lap steel guitar, string arrangements, lead vocals, background vocals
• Brian Macleod – drums, percussion
• Justin Meldal-Johnsen – bass guitar
• Wendy Melvoin – bass guitar, electric guitar
• Han Oh – viola
• Tim Pierce – dobro, e-bow, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin
• Dan Schwartz – bass guitar
• Shari Freebairn Smith – violin
• Lyle Workman – electric guitar

Production

• A&R Direction – Andy Karp
• Engineer – Michael Perfitt
• Product Manager – Gregg Nadel
• Art Direction, Illustration & Design – Mark Obriski
• Art Producer, Photography – Andrew Zaeh
• Packaging Manager – Nick Romei
• Engineer – Michael Perfitt
• Mastering – Scott Hull
• Mixing – Kevin Killen

Track information and credits verified from the album's liner notes.^[5] Some information was adapted from Discogs^[6] and AllMusic.^[7]