Thus far, the music on these albums has focused on the history and content of the National Geographic magazine from the years 1957 to 1967, when it was under the editorship of Melville Bell Grosvenor.
[1] National Road contained as its centerpiece a fictionalized narrative focusing on Melville Bell Grosvenor and the implicit downtrodden perspectives left unaddressed by the content of the magazine.
[2] In their initial incarnation, Bark Hide and Horn consisted of Andy Anderson Furgeson on guitar, vocals, harmonica, violin, banjo, and pedal steel and Brian Garvey on mandolin, keyboard, synth, trumpet, saxophone, trombone, percussion, and vocals.
The band members, used to playing in larger ensembles, found that they needed to constantly switch between instruments live in order to achieve the full sound that they desired.
[12] Additionally, according to an article in The Portland Mercury, Jane Goodall loves a song from National Road that focuses on the spacefaring chimpanzee Ham, and mentions her in the lyrics.