Initially inspired by the guitarists of the 60’s Takoma label to teach himself fingerpicking, James Blackshaw writes long-form pieces primarily for solo 12-string guitar and piano that are heavily influenced by minimalist composers and European classical music and which use drones, overtones and repeating patterns alongside a strong inclination for melody to create instrumental music that is both intelligent, hypnotic and emotionally charged.
Born in London in 1981, Blackshaw has so far released six solo studio albums, one live recording and has also appeared on numerous compilations in the last five years. “O True Believers” (2006, Important Records/Bo’weavil Recordings), “The Cloud of Unknowing” (2007, Tompkins Square) and “Litany of Echoes” (2008, Tompkins Square) have received huge critical acclaim from printed and online publications including Pitchfork, Billboard, The Wire, The Observer, The Times, Uncut, The New York Times, Rolling Stone Magazine, The Onion, Magnet and Acoustic Guitar Magazine. “The Cloud of Unknowing” was also listed as one of the 50 best albums of 2007 by The Wire (no. 24) and Pitchfork (no. 34). His latest album, “Litany of Echoes” was listed as Uncut Magazine’s 13th Best Album of 2008. Blackshaw has recently signed to Michael Gira’s (Swans/Angels of Light) Young God Records label and his seventh studio album is to be released in May 2009.
Collaborations have included a duo with Dutch lutenist Jozef van Wissem, performing under the name Brethren of The Free Spirit, live work with Andria Degen’s Pantaleimon,, a live improvisation with Japanese co-founder of The Boredoms Seiichi Yamamoto and work on the new Anok Pe Current 93 album.
He has toured extensively in Europe, US and Japan, playing approximately 200 shows since 2005 in a broad range of environments from sold-out 1,000 capacity venues supporting Jose Gonzalez to intimate church shows and institutions such as The Douglas Hynde Gallery in Dublin and The ICA in London. He has featured on National Public Radio in the US, BBC Radio 2 and performed live on VPRO television in The Netherlands.
Meg Baird has been playing music with her sister Laura for as long as she can remember. The sisters were introduced to a trove of traditional material via Smithsonian Archives LPs early in life. Their natural gravitation to folk music must have been strong if they felt compelled to write to agencies associated with the Federal Government to unearth old tunes from the vaults.
By the time Meg was high school-aged, Laura had a four-track recorder and a Fender Broadcaster that she let her fall in love with playing. Meg’s years of childhood piano lessons and her musical family upbringing transformed into a foundation for a self-taught guitar and singing style. In the last 5 years or so Laura and Meg became known as “The Baird Sisters” — just a name to tack on a show poster — but the name stuck well with them. As a result of her work with Laura, Meg was suggested to and recruited by Brooke Sietinsons, who was looking for musical collaborators in Philadelphia. In time, the collaborators became the group called Espers, a psychedelic folk group. In addition to being a founding member of Espers, Meg is also one of the primary songwriters and singers.
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