Husband and wife music duo The Bird and The Bear are manifesting their sound straight out of Nashville, TN. The two, originally hailing from different countries, came together and realized their symbiotic passion for music. Subsequently, The Bird and The Bear was created, and the rise of Folksy/Bluesy songs came as a result. The Bird and The Bear offer an honest and complimentary sound, tying in so many different components across many genres. It's observable to us that The Bird and The Bear bring about a sound that's enriched with genuine emotion, something you can physically hear throughout their music. We feel as if we're receiving a real performance with the duo every time one of their tracks glide across our ears, and their most recent release of "Come Clean" wasn't any different.
A prominent guitar presence opens up the rustic vibe The Bird and The Bear maintain throughout "Come Clean". When both vocalists merge their voices together, the product ends up incredibly harmonious and full of life. "Come Clean," tells a darker and deeper story, and we want to highlight the way the duo are able to bring that sense of vitality to the song, even when telling a more melancholic story. There's an impeccable flavor that the husband/wife duo brings to "Come Clean", which we know comes mainly in the form of their vocal range. There's such consistency with their voices, and that goes to say a lot, because "Come Clean" houses some wide-ranging vocal tones from The Bird and The Bear. All in all, "Come Clean" presents a heartfelt message, one that encompasses a profound message regarding the relationship with another, and the honesty that comes along. The bird and The Bear undoubtedly hold a special place in our hearts for their warming presence with one another, and we're hoping for more of their similar sounds to melt along with in the future!
Check out "Come Clean" by The Bird and The Bear here.
Welcome, The Bird and The Bear! Let's get started by talking about your journey as a husband and wife music duo! How has the experience been thus far, creating music together and sharing that part of your lives so intimately? Are there any prominent challenges you've encountered as a duo regarding your artistry?
We met in 2011, at a hostel in Nashville, TN. We started making music pretty much as soon as we met, so the relationship and the musical collaboration really coincided. Before getting married we released an EP, Breathe, and a single, "Sleep Alone" which was inspired by our time spent apart during the long-distance periods of our relationship. Music allowed us a way to bond through our time in separate countries. And even now it's still a great outlet for us to be able to create intimate moments when the world seems chaotic. As far as challenges, we both definitely have our own tastes and backgrounds but we always seem to find a common ground to combine our influences.
"Come Clean" was a recent single release from the both of you! With this release, did you feel your music was extending out in a different direction?
Definitely! We describe our music as "sad songs for happy people", and with this release, we feel like we can show a rockier side of our music. With previous releases, we aimed for a folkier sound, and while that's still definitely our core, we wanted to be open to some of our older influences as well as other collaborators. Nick Bullock, our producer, and Aaron Shaffer-Haiss, the drummer on this album, really brought the energy out of this song when we were thinking it would be a simple, stripped-down track. They really helped us find that balance of folk and rock. Our friends in South for Winter also lent their vocal and cello talents and brought this track to another level!
Just listening along to "Come Clean" the underlying, intimate message appears quite clear. Can you share with our readers the overall intent of creating "Come Clean", and how/if you wanted it to help others?
We always hope the music we create helps others with whatever they're going through, even if that's not the initial intent. The danger of writing relationship songs as a married couple is that most people assume it's autobiographical. But we're really just trying to find stories we think might resonate with people. This song took quite a while to take shape, with different sections being written years apart. We try not to force anything creatively and we just kind of had to be patient to see what this song wanted to be.
How do you ensure that an intimate connection between the two of you is maintained during a performance? Do the two of you find it easy to display that connection across a performance, just as well as you do with a recording?
We've always had a special connection, the live performance is really the big payoff, emotionally. It's our happy place! Performing live was a big part of both of our lives before we met so it's nice to share that with somebody on such an intimate level. Not that long ago, an audience member asked us after a show if we were newlyweds, because of the way we look at each other and interact on stage. Truth is, we'll be married for 7 years this May!
What can we expect to see next from you?
After Lover's Waltz and Come Clean, we're getting ready to release the 3rd single and title track of our upcoming record, Wild Rose. We're aiming to release it later this year, hopefully in the Spring. We're now booking Summer dates in support of the release.