Baird, Laura

Baird, Laura

Under Blue

Ba Da Bing!

Following up her 2017 release, I Wish I Were a Sparrow, multi-instrumentalist Laura Baird returns with Under Blue, an intimate depiction of grief tied to the mourning of her father. The album is anchored by folk guitar and banjo, as well as Baird’s strong lyricism and serene harmonies. Under Blue showcases Baird’s most authentic self as both a musician and creator, painting naturalistic images of her childhood and adult life to explore themes of change, relational depth, and finding peace. Under Blue is as much an ode to her father as it is to herself, while serving as an homage to nature, which fuels her creative process. Baird’s writing for this solo project began in 2012, during the recording of Sparrow, and continued after 2018 when she returned to her childhood home in southern New Jersey, near the Delaware River.“My father died and I went to help my mom out and keep her company. I was focused on her, but then the pandemic came and I started writing more again. I sat with these songs for a long time,” Baird said of the timeline of Under Blue and its early onset. Baird shares the value of sitting and processing ideas with her sister and trusted collaborator, Meg Baird, with whom she performs as The Baird Sisters.“Taking your time, letting things go, and letting something bloom before you go into the next thing is something I learned from Meg.” For the arrangement, Meg suggested that Laura add more instruments to the...

Baird, Laura

I Wish I Were A Sparrow

Ba Da Bing!

With a musical timeline dating back to her early childhood, Laura Baird is an exceptionally talented multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter, best known for her projects with her sister, Meg, as The Baird Sisters, and guitarist Glenn Jones. Baird’s own sound stems from the Appalachian folk tradition, and she connects to it via family lineage—her great-great uncle I.G. Greer’s folk recordings for the Library of Congress are a large influence. Also woven in are classical composers like Bach and Satie, and modern day musicians such as Opal and Yo La Tengo. With this debut solo album, I Wish I Were A Sparrow, Baird plays odes to the traditions from which she learned, combining Appalachian balladry and the roughness of old field recordings, but there is also a dose of dreaminess and solitude that captures sleepy central New Jersey. This is where she departs from tradition, leaving the communal origins of folk music to capture the singular self. The lyrics also present an amalgam of old and new, with half of the songs, including “Dreadful Wind and Rain” and “Pretty Polly,” being passed down from the folk tradition, and the other half, including “Wind Wind “and “Love Song From The Earth To The Moon,” coming from Baird’s own hand. While the most salient part of her previous Baird Sisters project was the melding of familial voices and various instruments, Baird’s solo effort is centered around the combination of her virtuosic banjo playing and prominent but airy vocals.