Black Birds

The songwriting duo of Carl Caracia and Adam Neubauer formed Blackbirds out of the ashes of post-hardcore/punk outfit Ampersand. Through home studio work and focus on improvisation, Black Birds could become well rounded enough to straddle today's many genres. Black Birds has cultivated their sound through the years by playing with a cavalcade of Baltimore musicians including, but not limited to; ...Joe Martin and Paul Neidhart (French Mistake, The American, Northernmost), Paul Aqulino (Longshot, Ampersand, Bison and Medic), Eric Berben (Nope), Ryan Brown (Brace, Hate Crimes), Lee Blades (Blank, Future Perfect, Sick Sick Birds), Kathy Parmele (Headwounds, Mongoloidian Glow), and Keith Thomas (Dead Men Sway, Polka Dot Cadaver) in both studio and live formats. In 2006 Blackbirds met up with Dave Drell, primarily a lead/experimental guiarist, with an arsenal of Blues standards. The three Black Birds set out to be very proliferate, playing as many shows as they could with as many other interested and up-and-coming bands in the Baltimore scene. During this time Blackbirds recorded and released their first full-length album, Elliptical Flight Patterns, with the help of Brooks(Avec, War on Women, Office of Future Plans) at J Robbins' (Government Issue, Jawbox, Office of Future Plans) studio, The Magpie Cage. In the winter of 2009 long time friend and drummer Steve Sladki approached the band after attending quite a few performances and hearing the studio album. Steve's involvement solidified the current lineup of Black Birds. As a four piece the band has gone to work refining and finishing the collection of 50+ unrecorded songs the band had/has been working on since its inception, plus an increasing number of new songs written by the new lineup. Using a unique mix of styles to fashion a sound of their own, "Heavy Wood" is the term which best describes the music Black Birds plays. Look for releases from Black Birds throughout the year, as they give out free cd demos of new songs at most shows they play, especially their favorite venues.