Fish & Bird touring to prepare for new album

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Though the members of  Victoria/ Gulf Island based bluegrass/ roots band Fish & Bird are scattered all over the country, distance doesn’t matter — it’s the music that counts.
“For most of us,  music is the number one priority, so we do whatever it takes to make it happen,” said Fish & Bird singer Taylor Ashton, whose band plays the Henotic, Monday, April 12 with the Sure Things.Fish & Bird play Henotic, April 12.
Ashton lives in Winnipeg while  multi-instrumentalist Adam  Iredale-Gray lives in the Gulf Islands who grew up in the Gulf Islands  with bassist /vocalist Zoe Guigeno who now calls Toronto home. Guitarist Ryan Boeur completes the quartet.
“When we started, Adam and I were a duo, but we’ve expanded to a full band now,” he said adding they write as a complete band as well. They also connect musically online.
“It kind of looks like we’re a bluegrass band but we cover a lot of musical territory from  old time bluegrass to closer to an art rock sound with some jazz influence. We can play a variety of different kinds of music acoustically,” he continued.
They are about to embark on an intense two month tour then will be back in the studio to record their third CD.
Their last CD, ‘Left Brain  Blues’ came out in 2009.
“We’ve toured on it before. Part of the purpose for this tour is to get back together and lay solidly for a month or so and then go back into the studio fresh  from 25-30 shows,” he continued adding  the new songs are almost done. the band will work on final arrangements on the road and in Adam Iredale-Gray’s studio.
“He has a studio so time isn’t really an issue and if we need a break from recording we can go jump in the ocean,” he continued adding working in the Gulf Islands is also pretty inspirational as the Islands are home to a thriving folk and roots scene.
“We’re all best friends, so a lot of time is spent just  hanging out and catching up,” he said adding he and  Iredale-Gray bring most of the bluegrass and roots influence to the band especially the latter as he has been playing the music with his family since he was young.
“Zoe and Ryan have less of a roots influence. They’ve learned a lot about it from being in this band,” he said adding he’s looking forward to the new CD, which he expects will be out in September.
“The previous CDs had a lot of guests. This one will be more collaborative and accomplished and cohesive as a band. We’ll be tighter and more developed,” he said adding he is looking forward to being back in Lethbridge. Fish &Bird were last here  at Henotic.
“The title track of the last CD is  Left Brain Blues, but for the Lethbridge show we changed it to Lethbridge blues,” Ashton recalled.
The show with The Sure Things begins at Henotic at 9 p.m. There is a five dollar cover.
— by Richard Amery, L.A Beat editor
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