Birds of Play in Concert

I had heard of the Birds of Play for a couple of years before I finally saw what the fuss was about on Labor Day this year, when they opened for "folk superstars” Rising Appalachia. The nuts and bolts of the band are this: they are an acoustic quartet (mandolin, guitar, violin, bass) with many members trading instruments frequently, they write incredible songs, they’ve recorded three albums in their short history, they’re clearly good friends who enjoy sharing and creating music together and they are on a spiral toward much, much larger stages.

I find it so difficult to describe their lush sound that I propose a new genre, “Acoustic Wash”, as the intricate interplay between them flows so easily and delicately that it reminds me of a sonic experience in nature, like listening to wind in the pines, the trickle of a mountain stream or even the space of…