Fish & Bird. Left Brain Blues
2009. Fiddle Head Records.

I met Taylor Ashton of Victoria BC's folk-rock band Fish & Bird at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes a few years ago in Port Townsend. He was jamming one on one on banjo with Caspian of Blackbird Raum, a borderline anarchist of a fiddler, and they were ripping through a bunch of creepy old fiddle tunes from the deep backwoods of Appalachia. I joined them and had one of the most raucous old-time jams, racing in and out of tunes, whoopin’ and hollerin’ and crashing around the room. I share this story with you to highlight why I respect his band, Fish & Bird: because I know that he respects the roots of the music he’s playing and that shows in their music.

Fish & Bird don’t play old-time music, and they don’t play straight up folk music. I’m not entirely sure what they play. If pressed, I’d have to say gothic stringband was the best descriptor I could put together for them. They’re clearly pulling from lots of different sources, but that’s to be expected from bands today. What I like about Fish & Bird is the freshness of the music, the feeling that they earnestly love what they’re doing and aren’t afraid to rock the fuck out to prove it. Taylor’s banjo playing has a nice edge, swaying between choppy strums and rough clawhammer picking. Fiddler Adam Iredale-Gray is the second half of Fish & Bird (not sure if he’s the fish or the bird) and contributes great backing fiddle lines and a nice stew of influences, from Irish tunes to old-time droning. But for me, the star of the album is Taylor’s voice, at turns deep and growly, or high and floating gently. His voice cracks ever so slightly, adding a touch of intimacy to the music. The band’s arrangements are also a joy to listen to, and are much more complex than most folk rock bands I’ve heard recently.

On Left Brain Blues, the duo of Fish & Bird have fleshed out to a larger band, joined by Oliver Swain on bass (watch the blog for an upcoming review of Oliver’s amazing new album) and a host of other British Columbia roots musicians. As it turns out, they’re about to release a new album in Spring 2011 and are touring with this full lineup (minus Oliver Swain), so we’ll look forward to that release. Left Brain Blues isn’t the perfect album, and some tracks on the CD aren’t as strong as others, but Fish & Bird have got great energy and great vision for a softer, darker Americana roots sound. The two strongest tracks, “Burst into Flower” and “Mark My Grave” are outstanding and I’m sure you’ll find your own gems in the music of Fish & Bird.

 
Fish & Bird: Burst Into Flower


Fish & Bird: Mark My Grave