BROWN BIRD

THE CHRISTMAS ALBUM: AN INTERVIEW WITH MORGANEVE SWAIN

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Sleepover Shows, November 21 2014 • Rob Ribera Brown-Bird-Christmas-cover-620x618 Christmas songs mean different things to different people. Whether you love them or hate them, you cannot deny their power. They are joyous and melancholy. They help keep us warm in the coldest of winters. They remind us to love our friends and our family. They are about human connections and bonds that cannot be broken. At the heart of it all, they are about love. [Read more...]

ICE ON THE SILL: BROWN BIRD’S MUSIC INSPIRES ART SHOW

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DigBoston, July 14 2014 • Susanna Jackson ChrisMaliga_Deeper In “Deeper,” a shadow is hunched in the woods. The bare winter branches visible through the person’s translucent torso appear as a tangle of uncertain arteries. The fading figure could be light playing a trick on the eye, and yet the feet have left two imprints in the freshly fallen snow. [Read more...]

Concert celebrates legacy of Brown Bird’s Dave Lamb

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The Boston Globe, April 10 2014 • James Reed Columbus_DavidLamb PROVIDENCE —It was not the kind of celebration anyone had in mind. It was supposed to be about looking forward, a chance to salute the years of good health and good music yet to come. All recent signs had suggested that Dave Lamb, who co-anchored the indie-folk duo Brown Bird, was on the mend after a nearly year long battle with leukemia. [Read more...]

David Lamb of Brown Bird dies of leukemia

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The Providence Journal, April 6 2014 • Alex Kuffner PROVIDENCE — David Lamb, 35, a guitarist and songwriter who performed with MorganEve Swain in the Rhode Island-based folk duo Brown Bird, died Saturday of leukemia. Swain, Lamb’s longtime musical partner and later his wife, announced Lamb’s death on Brown Bird’s Facebook page Saturday night: “Dave entered the battle with leukemia as only Dave could — determined, steadfast, smiling and always with his mind on our future. His incredible ability to continue writing through his struggle is something I’ll forever aspire to. This week was the toughest in the battle, as Dave’s body began to shut down under the stress of a year-long fight and a sudden and aggressive leukemic relapse. Today surrounded by his family and so many friends, Dave peacefully let go.” Lamb initially toured as a solo musician known as Brown Bird. He met Swain, a fiddler, on tour in 2008 and they became a well-known duo in folk music circles, eventually settling in an apartment in Warren. The group toured in the United States and Europe and played at the Newport Folk Festival. [Read more...]

In Memoriam: David Lamb of Brown Bird

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No Depression, April 5 2014  • Neil Ferguson The music world suffered a great loss on April 5, 2014 with the passing of David Lamb, one half of the Rhode Island husband and wife duo known as Brown Bird. When I received the news via my dad, who is a music writer himself and a DJ in our home state of Rhode Island and had originally introduced me to Brown Bird, I was hit with a wave of sadness unlike any I have felt in a long time. It wasn't just another death. Dave was a true musical spirit and an unbelievably talented singer-songwriter who is now gone from this world. He was also a Rhode Islander like myself. Words can't fully express the feeling I got when I found out that such a kind and all around genuine person had lost his battle with leukemia. Yet, if there is one thing to be learned in life it's that, while mourning has its value, it is far more important to celebrate a life lived. In this case it's not just a life lived, but a musical legacy that will forever live on and continue touching others for years to come. [Read more...]

Esquire Live Sessions: Brown Bird Premiere “Weathering”

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Esquire, December 2013 “Equal parts American folk, blues, country, and gypsy” David Lamb’s melodious voice combined with MorganEve Swain’s whiny cello, a guitar, and banjo all create an auditory treat.  Swain’s presence on the upright bass is also heard over Lamb’s storytelling vocals—making every note hang above a room and fill the much-needed silence with toe tapping and hand clapping movements.  This multitasking duo has their thumb on sounds created years ago, but they continue to put their own stamp on familiar genres.  Their take on folk depicts a much darker harmony than the average, as their blues and country inflections remain rhythmic.

Leukemia grounds Brown Bird

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The Boston Globe, June 1 2013 • Hilary Hughes It was when playing his own songs became an insurmountable feat that Dave Lamb knew something was very wrong. Lamb and MorganEve Swain — who together make up Rhode Islander folk duo Brown Bird — had been touring nationally in support of their latest record, “Fits of Reason,” since its release on April 2. From the onset, Lamb felt off — the extreme exhaustion typical of the road wasn’t foreign to him, but this was different — and Brown Bird’s raucous repertoire suddenly went from providing passionate performances to impassable challenges for him. By Houston, Lamb had reached a point of fatigue that forced them to cut the set short and rush to the emergency room, and it was there that his hemoglobin count became the first of many life-changing numbers that would eventually add up to a leukemia diagnosis. [Read more...]