Folk Alley Sessions Archives: Brown Bird

(This Session was originally published in April, 2013; note: David Lamb passed away in April, 2014.)

Brown Bird may be best described as a musical project, more than as a band. The group has emerged in a variety of incarnations ” now existing as the minimalist ensemble of David Lamb and MorganEve Swain (with instrumental reminiscent of a one-man band). The duo has been influenced by a variety of world music and uses their tight harmonies to add the spirit of these sounds to an Americana roots flavor. In this interview with Matt Watroba he says Brown Bird’s music seems to have “ghosts” of other places and times drifting through its songs.

The band’s two members continue to build their sound from the foundations of blues and American roots music, utilizing the simple foot-percussion, violin, cello and upright bass that they have become known for, while expanding Swain’s vocal presence and flaunting Lamb’s lyrical mastery. Brown Bird’s new self-produced release, Fits of Reason, is inspired by the writings of Omar Khayyam, Christopher Hitchens, and Plato, among others, and grapples with the human condition in a smooth but unapologetic departure from the band’s previous release, Salt for Salt.