New Track

Eleanor Whitmore, the subject of this latest Pop (Culture) Quiz, has done practically everything to try and get Airplanes off the ground.

Her debut album, a splendid blend of rock, pop, and folk with a dash of country twang, couldn’t find a record company willing to give the project the proper push for a successful takeoff.

So Whitmore, an adventurous, independent woman who showed no fear of flying solo, decided to make the record herself.

With an added emphasis on make. For starters, she wrote the songs and crafted the string arrangements, played numerous instruments (her trademark fiddle, mandolin, viola and mellotron among them), provided lead and harmony vocals and served as one of the engineers.

Then she really went to work.

The process involved painting a nifty red biplane (almost matching the fiery color of her stunningly hot and curly locks) on each CD package by hand … then signing and numbering each like a personal work of art … then letting everyone who would listen know where to find the finished product.

Accompanying Whitmore on this flight of passage was her gifted co-pilot, Son Volt’s Chris Masterson, an accomplished musician himself who handled the producing duties and most of the guitar chores while showing his versatility by also playing harmonica, ukulele, and glockenspiel. He and she threw everything into this project but the kitchen sink, although they did pound some pots and pans on the carousel-like “Waltz of The Mystery Ship,” a nostalgic, 46-second ditty.

Some of Whitmore's friends and family (her father Alex is a folk singer and guitarist; her younger sister Bonnie plays guitar, bass, and cello) went along for the thrill ride as passengers eager to get where they were going.

Without a high-flying publicity machine, though, Whitmore is counting on word of mouth (and a lot of MySpace and Facebook friends) to keep this fleet of Airplanes running.

OK, enough with the plane talk. But flying is a constant theme throughout this record and Whitmore’s life. Of course, there’s the title song, the 12th and final selection, in which she wants to “fly so high, miles above the ground/fly so fast, break the speed of sound.”

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