The Red and Black

Issue date: 8/19/08 Section: Variety

Media Credit: Courtesy birds&wire Leralynn Buettner is the lead singer of birds&wire, a local band that is set to perform tonight at Caledonia Lounge. [Click to enlarge]

"On the Line" by birds&wire

Local band birds&wire has gone through some major member changes since its formation in late 2005. Tonight, the band will showcase the skills of new drummer Seth Hendershot at Caledonia Lounge.

Birds&wire plans to play tracks from its latest EP, "Sandford's Dive," which was recorded before former drummer Marlon Patton left to tour with now popular Heavy Mojo. Although the performance will not be with the same lineup as the EP and will only be Hendershot's second performance with birds&wire, lead singer Leralynn Buettner considers Hendershot a positive influence on the band as a whole.

"Seth really just brought a new kind of energy to the group and a really good dynamic," Buettner said. "Marlon was a classically trained jazz drummer and he was amazing, but Seth has a more pop-mentality to drumming and it just packs so much energy."

From a "country-esque" band to a montage of elements from different genres, the current sound of birds&wire has become difficult for the band to put a finger on.

"It's really just a lot of everything from vintage bass sounds to '70s and '60s country and a little jazz sensibility and a pop mentality to make everyone feel good," said bass player Robby Handley. "The best way to describe it is a big marriage of whatever we feel at the time."

Constant change has been something birds&wire has had to embrace since its beginnings as a folk and traditional country band in 2005. Lead-singer and self-proclaimed "leader of the band," Buettner is the only member who has fully seen the metamorphosis of birds&wire through all of the changes.

"For a while we actually had a different lineup for every show," Buettner said. "But the music is very lyrically driven, so the music is written to match."

Though birds&wire seems to have settled on a lineup, change is just around the corner yet again. Buettner, a senior at the University, is about to graduate with a degree in anthropology and start the next phase of her life, hopefully with band in-tow.

"I am in Athens to go to school and that is about it, so after I graduate I am planning to move to Texas or Tennessee," she said. "I have talked to the guys about it and they seem up for anything so we will see what happens."

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools