Album Notes

Fish & Bird are Taylor Ashton and Adam Iredale-Gray, though not necessarily in that order. These tunesmiths hail from the west coast of Canada and compose melodious concoctions steeped in folk, brewed in the dense coniferous backwoods of their strange minds. Between them, they play banjo, fiddle, mandolin, upright bass, and even guitar.

More about the parts that make up the whole:

TAYLOR ASHTON
Taylor is the poetical mastermind of this outfit, the youngest member of Fish & Bird, and the one with the glasses. He writes all the songs that have words, and then sings them whilst simultaneously playing the banjo or the guitar. Much of Taylor's childhood was spent singing along to Moxy Fruvous and Jesus Christ Superstar. Around 13, he picked up his Dad's old guitar and taught himself to play it, and in not too long was trying his hand at writing songs with the handful of chords he'd picked up. Aside from playing and composing music, his talents extend into the realm of visual art and sadly do not extend into the realm of ninjitsu.

ADAM IREDALE-GRAY
Adam Gray is the musical mastermind of the operation, and the oldest member of Fish & Bird. Adam has become widely renowned for his scorching hot fiddle playing, but his fingers don't stop at the neck of his 200 year old violin - Adam's musical grasp extends to basically any instrument you throw at him. A few of his favorites are the fiddle (of course), acoustic and slide guitars, banjo, and bass. Though still relatively young, Adam is already the veteran of countless national and local tours, with such musical acts as The Gruff, Roof Rabbit, and The Backyard String Band. Apart from being a member of those bands and Fish & Bird, Adam also lends his talents to other local Victoria groups Banquo and Belljar. Adam is an avid and slightly reckless cyclist and his favorite album of all time is Medulla by Bjork. Adam recorded and produced Fish & Bird's CD and has either produced & played on scores of others. The number of albums that mention Adam in their credits could constitute a modest record collection.

These two together create music which is at once wildly eclectic and perfectly cohesive, which is haunting and hopeful, which knows its roots well but is not bound by them, and which is sure to find a place in your heart.