Rob Baird
Austin, Texas, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
“[These tracks, like the rest of] Blue Eyed Angels, follow the difficult footsteps of early Neil Young but veer eventually out on their own, led by songs that are equal parts solid craft and poet's soul.” CMA CLOSEUP - MUSIC NEWS NASHVILLE
“Everything about I Swear It's The Truth suggest a young artist ready to break into the big leagues….Mainstream radio would be all the better to have an artist like Rob Baird and his songs like those on I Swear It's the Truth on their airwaves and played in a bar or music performance hall near you. In many ways it feels like past Carnival Recording Company artist Eli Young Band, in that Baird and EYB both mix heartland rock vibes with country music's tried and true lyrics.”
MATT BJORKE
- ROUGHSTOCK
“Baird surrounds himself with good songs, top-notch pickers and uncluttered production elements. Chalk up another one for artistic maturity.” MARIO TARRADELL - DALLAS MORNING NEWS
“Rob Baird is an artist that takes great delight in spreading the truth. While that may be a pun of sorts, connecting to the fact that his new album is called "I Swear It's The Truth," it's also a true statement in how he feels about his music -- and what he wants the listener to feel when they hear it.” CHUCK DAUPHIN - BILLBOARD
“The emotion behind all the songs is stirring and poignant. This is not a party band record, but an authentic collection of great songwriting to sit and listen to, much like Jason Isbell, Adam Hood or Will Hoge. From the first note to the last, Rob Baird delivers an album that I consider one of the best of 2012.” -JOSH TUCKER, NO DEPRESSION - NO DEPRESSION
Discography
LPs:
Blue Eyed Angels (2010)
I Swear Its the Truth (2012)
Singles:
"Could Have Been My Baby" (2010)
"Fade Away" (2010)
"Blue Eyed Angels" (2011)
"Mississippi Moon" (2011)
Photos
Bio
Rob Baird says growing up in Memphis, a city suffused with music, it was impossible not to pick up the guitar as a kid. And later, pilfering through his sisters record collection, Tom Petty and bands dont bore us get to the chorus approach to song structure, melded with Bairds affinity for darker-themed lyrics of Texas writers like Chris Knight and other legends. On his debut Blue-Eyed Angels out August 31st (Carnival Recording Company), the 23 year-old brings those influences to bear, most notably on the title track, a tale about the emptiness of the worlds oldest profession, made lighter with a chorus that jingles.
Heavily touring the southeast and his current home of Texas for the last few years, Baird caught the ear of Carnivals Frank Liddell (who helped bring Knight, Miranda Lambert, Bruce Robison and others to the public) and stepped into the studio with producer Scott Davis. Baird says he writes about emotional fall-out of an imagined story rather than a story itself, and to underscore the guilt of Blue-Eyed Angels, they used a well-placed 1920s pump organ. We were influenced a bit by T Bone Burnetts playbook on that one, says Baird.
Couldve Been My Baby, a current hit on Texas radio and the first one he wrote for the album -- could be the template for the rest of the record. Its hateful but happy, and dark in a major key, says Baird.
On Fade Away, Baird says the song, written with the capo at the 7th fret, was influenced by Pettys Wildflowers -- and the end result is deceptively simple and happy sounding. We used a lot of pump organ on that song, and light train drum rhythm, but its way in the back. Simple sometimes takes a lot more thought than it sounds, there are a lot of layers there to make it sound so melodic.
Elsewhere, there is love of course, with Louise about the infatuation that ensues after one chance meeting. And Let Me Down Easy, there is a bit of country influenced steel-guitar haunting a song he wrote on a drive, and the rolling tempo indeed evokes a long stretch of highway. Its about dating that perfect girl that seems too good to be true -- and in Bairds world, a song with a bit of the dark truth captures a more realistic snapshot of life -- but it can be seductively caged.
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