Brown Bird, which Dave Lamb began in 2003 and which underwent several personnel changes before settling as a duo, released six full-length records and two E.P’s in its 11 years of existence. Musically, Lamb consistently bent the boundaries of the genres imposed on him, and challenged his abilities as a performer and writer, always determined to produce the best music he could. Likewise, MorganEve Swain, whose primary instrument is violin, expanded to playing cello, upright bass, viola and electric bass in her years with Lamb. Always insisting that they were “not a folk band”, Brown Bird pulled inspiration from the music they loved— Middle-Eastern psych-rock from the ‘60s and ‘70s, intricate post-metal, the music of the Balkan gypsies— and paired it with lyrics that illustrated and questioned the world around them.
In May of 2013, while on tour in support of Fits of Reason, Dave, who had experienced several months of flu-like symptoms and anemia, was diagnosed with leukemia. He received a successful bone marrow transplant that September, but in March 2014, suffered an aggressive leukemic relapse. On April 5th, 2014, Dave Lamb succumbed to the disease, surrounded by family, friends and music.
During the year following his diagnosis and transplant, Dave had used his recovery time as an unexpected opportunity to delve into writing. Confined to their RI apartment, Dave and MorganEve spent the year planning for the next album, and the next tour. During the summer of 2014, MorganEve used the demos they had recorded at home and enlisted her friend, engineer Seth Manchester to combine newly recorded parts with the at-home recordings. The following Spring, MorganEve released Brown Bird’s final effort, Axis Mundi, on Supply & Demand Music.
MorganEve has since continued writing and recording music, now under the name The Huntress and Holder of Hands.
