Dirtbird
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Dirtbird

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Band Americana Acoustic

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"Dirtbird: White Horse Road"

Music that is stripped down to its skeletal remains, yet holds the attention from start to finish...a great rainy day soundtrack...a record for sipping early morning coffee and being introspective before the world comes crashing in

- Randy Baker - East Bank Radio, Nashville


"Dirtbird's The Traveller"

I stumbled upon the sublimely understated music of David M. Lewis when I was opening the Sunday lineup at the Guildford Blues and Roots Explosion in 2007. The first thing that strikes the listener upon hearing Dirtbird is the unashamed and almost all-pervasive use of very slow tempo - something that not many songwriters are brave enough to engage in, outside of the odd soppy ballad, let alone employ as a musical signature. Dirtbird's music is an exploration of the interaction of sound within the silence of vast spaces. This emerges in Dave's lyrics as well, which tend to explore meaty universal themes - alienation, freedom, love and death - the songs of disembodied characters singing love songs to nature and hymns to eternal forces. You might describe it as secular holy music, or the songs of a true pagan (pagan being used here in its original sense of country dweller - someone in touch with the spirit of nature).

My introduction to the recordings of Dirtbird was 2007's "White Horse Road", which became an object of musical idolatry to me at the time. The subtle weaving of guitar, cello, and male and female vocals - not to mention the almost biblical themes - haunted me for a number of months. 2008's "Cathedral" didn't grab me in the same way, but then I was just in the first throes of fatherhood, and didn't have the time to really devote to listening to it with the attention that it properly deserved.

Enter 2010's "The Traveller", Dirtbird's 4th and possibly most intricate recording. "The Traveller" (or any of Dirtbird's albums for that matter) is not a CD to be played idly in the car, or while vacuuming the house. I know because I tried. it was only when I sat down and paid attention that I really heard the beautiful subtle nuances of Kramer's production. It is therefore an album to drown in, via headphones or on a hi-fidelity sound system, in the dead silence of the night, or away from the unholy clamour of the noisy city.

There is a sonic consistency in Dirtbird's recorded output (at least in the 3 CDs that I own). The sound is recognisably Dirtbird. One curious fact is that while there is a different female vocalist on each recording (Cathy English on "White Horse Road", Victoria Moss on "Cathedral", and Kimshar Wolfs on "The Traveller"), the vocal arrangement, and hence the overall sound, remains the same. Dave's voice is distinctive and emotive, while the female backing, with its predominantly alto nuances and lovely washes of 'Strain tends to be understated and supportive, only taking on their own idiosyncrasies in the odd song where the female voice takes the lead, such as the beautifully haunting "We Rise".

That being said, there are interesting departures from this formula that prick up your ears. "The Song To The Sea" could have been plucked straight from some obscure medieval folk mass, with its beautiful middle-eastern modal melody and sweet close harmonies.

The addition of other instrumentation does not distract from the minimalist beauty of Dave's songs - testament to Kramer's skillful production. In fact on first listening (albeit in the car) I hardly noticed them at all. Now, after a number of careful listens and growing familiarity with the material, I can't help but applaud the graceful addition that the subtle use of Richard Pleasance's bass, Mary Thorpe's drums and particularly Kristin Rule's glorious cello adds to Dirtbird's sound, without taking away from the minimalist largo ethic that is Dirtbird's signature.

If you like music that is thoughtful,slow, sparse, emotive and open and you don't mind waking in the middle of the night with a haunting line or lyric playing itself interminably inside your head then you will appreciate and come to love Dirtbird's music as much as I do. - T. K. Bollinger


"Dirtbird: Cathedral"

With each new album, the sound of Dirtbird becomes finer, more certain, more elemental. The one constant member and songwriter, David M. Lewis continues to mine his seam of slow, unstoppable songs, often dark in mood, on occasion opening out into vistas of considered harmonies as in A Place To Fall. Lewis was/is a key member of The Bedridden, the fantastically belligerent Adelaide folk band, and his were some of the most unhinged hillbilly of their songs.

Dirtbird could hardly be further from that stellar chaos. The band, if it may be termed that, as it is a vehicle for Lewis's vision, structured around his songs and a female singer, and magically elongated lyrical visions, such as opener Dark Birds. He has worked with almost more female singers than there have been albums: "Cathedral" is number three on the label Lewis runs that releases Bedridden and Baterz albums (amongst others from that rock family tree). It features the vocals of Victoria Moss, though it was previous duet partner Kathryn McCool who came to Adelaide to launch the album last month. Each Dirtbird album is stunning, boldly influenced by recent and ancient Americana a la Gillian Welch/ David Rawlings, though Lewis' voice is more nasal, rough hewn and tempered well by Moss on "Cathedral".

The songs are beautifully mournful, leant this weight by cello. "Declined, With Thanks" is in awe of that 'mysterious universe' beyond our atmosphere, and between each other.Themes and lyrics are repeated, echoing previous releases such as in "Bigger Than A Star", where the repetition of the long chorus becomes a meditation on an eternal conundrum, "I carry a heart/ bigger than a star/ and nearly as far". Produced by Richard Pleasance, "Cathedral" is spare, with enough space and time to contain the epic expanses through which Lewis plays a selection of stringed instruments including banjo, dobro and twelve-string guitar. A gem out of country Victoria.

Narelle Walker - dB magazine


Discography

High Water Dover (2004)
White Horse Road (2007)
Cathedral (2008)
The Traveller (2011)

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Bio


dirtbird

Dirtbird is the ethereal, mysterious musical project of Australian singer-songwriter David M. Lewis. Close harmonies, atmospheric double bass and drums, sparsely pulsing resonator guitar, a soaring cello and slow, sad songs about mystical journeys and the end of the world are some of the elements which weave in and out of the organic quietness which has become the Dirtbird sound.
With each of Dirtbird’s four albums, High Water Dover (2004), White Horse Road (2007), Cathedral (2008), and The Traveller (2011), Lewis has refined these elements more and more, adding new dimensions of space and mystery into his dark, visionary songs.
The Traveller was recorded by US producer Kramer (who has produced bands such as Low, Bonnie Prince Billy, John Spencer and Galaxie 500), and represents something of a shift for the band, as it has a spookier, looser sound than the earlier records (due partly to the shimmering production Kramer brings to the project).
The songs themselves are often written using a “cut-up” technique (using old National Geographics, Encyclopedias and a pair of scissors), which has the effect of making them sound as if they’ve been imperfectly translated from some ancient language, inviting comparisons to artists like Neil Young, Low, M. Ward and Gillian Welch. Dirtbird’s sound, however, and the world which they seem to inhabit, is entirely their own.