MorganEve Swain and David Lamb, otherwise known as Brown Bird, are a folk duo out of Providence, RI with a bit of a Maine connection, and a whole lot of talent. And they are busy! Just wrapping up a national tour, and about to embark on two more massive tours this spring, this band is certainly on the move. Given their immense talent (they each play at least three instruments!), and their richly layered, genre-pushing records, this is no surprise. Their most recent release, Salt for Salt, has been met with widespread critical acclaim, and if you ask me, is the best folk album of 2011.
Recently, I got to chat with MorganEve and (despite some awkward fan girl moments on my part) asked her some questions about what the band has been up to, and what’s on the horizon.
Dispatch Magazine (DM): So you guys have been super busy lately—you’ve been touring with The Devil Makes Three, followed by a few shows recently with O’Death—and now you’re embarking on tours with both Trampled By Turtles and Yonder Mountain String Band. Do you guys ever rest?
MorganEve Swain (MS): We’re actually on the road right now. But yeah, sometimes we rest. Just not now.
DM: Well it’s no wonder you’ve been so busy—2011’s Salt For Salt was received very well by critics. Though you’re clearly all over the place touring, do you have any idea what’s next? Are you guys writing new material?
MS: We’re basically using any time we have at home to be working on new stuff but that kind of is quickly dwindling since we’re going to be on the road constantly starting in March. But there’s definitely new material on the horizon.
DM: There’s definitely some “gypsy folk” elements (or however you want to categorize it) in Salt for Salt. It’s not necessarily new to your music, but it seemed very prominent on this record. Do you think it has anything to do with your 2010 European Tour with The Low Anthem? Or is this something that you guys have always been drawn to?
MS: It’s something we’ve always been interested in. When we started writing Salt For Salt it was a little different from the rest of the albums—it was the first one that David and I did on our own so we kind of brought in some other influences that might not have been there in the earlier stuff. We did listen to more gypsy music, but we were definitely listening to a lot more than just gypsy music. We also listened to a lot of metal, a lot of blues, stuff like that. All those things that kind of allowed for the melodies of Salt For Salt—at least we hope so.
DM: Oh definitely. As you mentioned, Salt For Salt was the first album with just the two of you. From what I understand, Brown Bird started a solo project, then became a quintet, then you toured as a trio, and now it’s the two of you. Do you find it easier or harder to write and record an album as duo?
MS: I definitely think it’s easier for a lot of different reasons. The most obvious is that it’s easier to travel when it’s two people. But, we’re also a couple; we live together, you know, so basically Brown Bird is our life. When there are more of us there are a lot of personalities to work with—we were spread out between two states. More people is always more complicated. We loved having five people but it just wasn’t working out for touring. So yeah, being two is great!
DM: And, you both have New England roots. You’re from Connecticut. And you guys play in Maine quite a bit—what exactly is your Maine connection?
MS: Dave lived in Maine on and off for a few years. He went to boat building school in Arundel—so that’s really the main Maine connection [laughs].
DM: Fair enough. So when you guys are in Maine, do you have a favorite spot or a town you guys like to go to?
MS: Unfortunately, there’s hardly ever any time for relaxation…but we do have good friends in Biddeford so we spend a lot of time there. In Portland, we love playing SPACE. We hope we’ll be there many, many more times.
DM: I was actually at your most recent SPACE show in January—it was awesome [fan girl moment]! You were playing with another folk band, O’death. In the music industry, people love to categorize—you guys are a “folk” duo. But I hear so many other things in your music, aside from “folk.” Have you found it difficult to get recognized in the music industry without being labeled as this or that?
MS: It is hard. I sometimes go off on tangents about the word “folk”—to me the biggest annoyance is to be called folk and for somebody who hasn’t heard us before to think we’re a completely different band than we are. A lot of people think folk is just one particular type of American music but really it should mean it’s from everywhere—which is what we do. I’m definitely always wanting to be like “we’re just a band—we make music. It’s non genre specific.” [Takes a breath, laughs]
DM: Well I was actually talking to my dad about your guys’ show at SPACE and how “folk” music is a totally different thing than what people really think it is—I mean, people get crazy at some of those shows. People were moshing at the O’Death show!
MS: [Laughs] Yeah. Exactly.
DM: So the last year has been sort of jam-packed with exciting stuff for you guys. What’s your favorite thing about what you’ve have been doing—the touring, recording, writing?
MS: The whole process really. We’re still pretty excited about being able to tour all the time. We both had other jobs until this past September. The last few months we have really been on the road and doing this full time. We love being on the road. We love writing. It’s an exciting time. We’re enjoying all of it.
DM: I don’t blame you for enjoying it. Just from seeing your fanbase at the two Portland shows I’ve been to, it’s crazy to me that you guys had “day jobs” until a few months ago. As we mentioned earlier, you went on a European tour with another Providence band, The Low Anthem, in 2010. They have a pretty big following in Europe. This past year in particular you guys have really blown up. Do you think going on tour with them broadened the scope of your own fan base?
MS: Yeah, I think so. There’s been several different bands who have kind of have given us a nice boost. The Devil Makes Three is another one. We toured nationally with them in April and that was really amazing. And yeah, The Low Anthem. Also, playing the Newport Folk Festival this past summer—I’m pretty sure we have The Low Anthem to thank for that, too. I know they suggested us to the festival.
DM: With all the upcoming shows just announced, is there a particular place you’re especially excited to play (aside from your upcoming show at Biddeford’s the Oak and the Ax, of course)?
MS: We’re looking forward to everything. We’re playing the Fillmore in San Francisco with Yonder Mountain, which is pretty amazing. But I think we’re mostly excited to go back and revisit a lot of the cities we were just at in April with the Devil Makes Three. That’ll be fun to see if people remember us, you know, now that we’ve been out there once it’d be nice to go back and do it all over again.
DM: Well I know when I saw you guys open for the Devil Makes Three at Port City Music Hall in December, a lot of DM3 fans were pretty stoked about your live show. Your live shows seem to really pull people in. After wrapping up your last tour, did you find that you picked up a lot of fans?
MS: Thanks! And, yeah it definitely seemed to happen a lot at the shows with DM3—their crowd is really amazing, really fun. It’s been cool to go from city to city. They have fans that will travel, too. We’ll be in one city, and then three days later we’re in another city and people will show up and be like “Oh we just saw you guys in California!” And it’s like “Whaaat—what are you doing here?!” But it’s really fun. It’s definitely been fun to watch the number of fans grow, you know, on our Facebook page and shit like that. Definitely very cool.
Don’t miss Brown Bird’s upcoming show with Tallahassee and Ben Lear at The Oak and Ax, February 18th 2012. Get your tickets here!
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