The Boston Globe, April 10 2014 • James Reed
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.
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.
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.
Newport Folk Festival, April 5 2014
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.
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.
Paste Magazine, May 22 2013 • James Joiner
The first thing I notice when I walk into the kitchen is that MorganEve Swain looks smaller than usual. Granted, I’ve usually encountered her at shows, looking up at her on stage behind her bass or cello, but even the few times we’ve interacted prior to this meeting she’s seemed, for lack of a better word, sturdier. She looks smaller and tired and, above all, scared. With good reason.
Just a few days ago she and fiancé/Brown Bird bandmate Dave Lamb were on a headlining national tour in support of their new album, when Lamb was stricken once more by a long, on-again/off-again illness, cutting their Houston show short and sending him to the hospital.
Folk Alley Sessions, April 9 2013
Providence Phoenix, April 8 2013 • Chris Conti
Brown Bird’s David Lamb and MorganEve Swain challenge themselves (and anyone who still insists on calling them a folk band) on their stunning new album, Fits of Reason (via local label Supply & Demand). The devil still dances all over Lamb’s lyrics, though this time around he’s mingling with modern-day Western thinkers and 18th-century authors whose views and writings have clearly inspired his intellectual wordplay. The foot-stomping/clip-clopping structures and Swain’s cello and fiddle remain steeped in American roots, bluegrass, and jazz, and the duo’s penchant for incorporating Middle Eastern and European rhythms is fully intact. But it’s the addition of electric guitar and bass that lends yet another layer to Brown Bird’s distinctive sound.
Portsmouth Herald, April 4 2013 • Christopher Hislop
Brown Bird is one of those bands that you really like a lot, but have a hard time pinning down what it is you like best about ’em. Maybe that’s because they pull from so many different influences. It’s always an exciting time when they release a new record — which will be the case when they hit the Press Room on Saturday, April 6. The new record, “Fits of Reason,” is another stunningly beautiful collection of stories told with an accompaniment of lush soundscapes and rich harmonies. The soundscapes are generally very sparse in arrangement, but fleshed out in a way that makes each and every moment sound absolutely huge. A very world/tribal vibe exists in this latest record.
