FISH & BIRD ARE : Adam Iredale-Gray (fiddle, vocals) Ryan Boeur (acoustic & electric guitars) Ben Kelly (drums, percussion) Zoe Guigueno (upright bass, vocals) & Taylor Ashton (vocals, banjo)

Fish & Bird have been defying expectations for a long time. They formed in Victoria, BC in 2006 as an acoustic duo, comprised of Taylor Ashton (banjo, guitar, vocals) and Adam Iredale-Gray (fiddle). On their 2007 self titled debut, their take on 'folk' included original songs in odd time signatures and traditional murder ballads with rock beats. 2009's Left Brain Blues was a more mature exploration of the space between folk traditions and reckless creativity, with Ashton & Gray playing multiple instruments on each song, and toying with the formats that inspired them. Some of the friends they enlisted to help fill out the sound on the record and at live shows eventually became permanent members of the band, and now Fish & Bird are the five-piece indie-folk powerhouse we know today. They have weird vocal improv sections, they rock out in 11/8, sometimes it seems like they're playing bluegrass, and they might make you cry.

The band's 3rd album, tentatively titled Every Whisper is a Shout Across the Void, is slated for a spring 2011 release. Featuring the full ensemble and some of their strongest material yet, it redefines the Fish & Bird experience yet again. Where 2009's Left Brain Blues took listeners on a roller coaster ride of varied genres and instrumentation, Every Whisper comes off more like a live show, with all the band's influences and musical ideas woven tighter into a more cohesive sound. The arrangements are cleaner, the playing is stronger, and Ashton's singing is at its best, this time finding company in backing vocals from Guigueno and Iredale-Gray. Fiddler Adam Iredale-Gray is Fish & Bird's resident recording engineer. In the 2 years since Left Brain Blues, he has cut his teeth on a number of other recording projects for a handful of other western canadian artists, and the experience shows on Every Whisper.

The album is more lyrically cohesive too. Expanding on themes hinted at on Left Brain Blues, Every Whisper explores the relationship between reality and perception - but not in the flaky, hippy-dippy way some might expect from bands with roots on BC's west coast and Vancouver island. Taylor Ashton's lyrics explore the fragility of human interactions, and the fictions we all weave about our own worlds whether we acknowledge them or not.

2011 promises to be a big year for Fish & Bird. On February 10th, they will take part in a free show at CBC studios in Vancouver as a double bill with Spirit of the West's John Mann, which will be taped to later appear on radio and television. See the gigs page for confirmed dates on their spring CD release tour.