I am more excited about this post than just about any other one I’ve done this year. Redbird ain’t new, ain’t cutting edge, doesn’t have a big, famous name in it, and aren’t on tour. I don’t even think there’s been a second Redbird record. But this is one of the greatest albums I’ve ever had the pleasure to hear. Redbird, like Broken Social Scene, are a collective of sorts–only they are from the U.S. Singer-songwriters who some of you might have heard of before. It started in 2003, with Kris Delmhorst, Jeffrey Foucault, and Peter Mulvey touring England together as triple-bill solo acts bringing their folky Americana across the pond. Over the course of the tour, they began to play together. Eventually, they hooked up with David Goodrich and made a record as a Christmas present for their friends and families.
It’s brilliant.
The album starts with the gentle acoustic folk song, “Ships,” sweet with harmony and urging you to sing along. Patience recalls classic Kinks, t also includes standards like”Moonglow” and a phenomenal cover of R.E.M.’s “You Are the Everything.” There’s the contemplative “Patience,” written by Mark Sandman of Morphine, and an amazing cover of my favorite bob dylan song, Buckets of Rain. There’s a bluegrass cover of The Dillards’ “The Whole World Round,” and a great Tom Waits cover, too (” Hold On”).
Not a bad track on the album. It’s available from emusic, and you should get a copy somehow, someway, any way you can.
It gets my highest possible recommendation.
