Meg Baird
Encyclopedia
Meg Baird is an American
musician originally from New Jersey
and currently based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. She is best known as a founding member and lead female vocalist for the Philadelphia folk rock
band Espers
. In 2007, Baird released her first solo LP Dear Companion
on Drag City
. She has also collaborated with sister Laura in The Baird Sisters, and appeared as a backing vocalist on Bonny 'Prince' Billy
's 2007 EP Ask Forgiveness.
She also appeared as a backing vocalist on Sharon Van Etten's
second album, Epic
. As a solo artist, she has toured with Bert Jansch
, James Blackshaw
, Micah Smaldone
, Sharron Kraus
and others.
Her vocal style has often been compared to that of Fairport Convention
's Sandy Denny
and Pentangle
's Jacqui McShee
, although she has herself cited Trees
' Celia Humphris as the more personally influential member of the 1960s and 70's UK folk
scene.
Most recently she appeared on a 7"
compilation entitled Meet the Philly Elite, featuring former touring partners Kurt Vile
and Jack Rose
, as well as US Girls.
in the Library of Congress
helped expose Baird to folk music at young age while she was taking piano lessons, teaching herself guitar, and listening to Smithsonian Folkways
LP
s.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musician originally from New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and currently based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. She is best known as a founding member and lead female vocalist for the Philadelphia folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
band Espers
Espers (band)
Espers is a psych folk band from Philadelphia that is part of the emerging indie folk scene. They formed in 2002 as a trio of singer-songwriter Greg Weeks, Meg Baird and Brooke Sietinsons but later expanded to a sextet including Otto Hauser, Helena Espvall and Chris Smith...
. In 2007, Baird released her first solo LP Dear Companion
Dear Companion
Dear Companion is Espers vocalist Meg Baird's first solo album. It was released in 2007 to critical praise. The album contains three traditional folk songs, four covers of more recent songs, and two original songs written by Baird. The album is lightly orchestrated traditional folk music,...
on Drag City
Drag City (record label)
Drag City is a Chicago-based independent record label. It was established with a Royal Trux release in 1990 in Chicago, Illinois by Dan Koretzky and Dan Osborn.Drag City specializes in experimental indie rock acts...
. She has also collaborated with sister Laura in The Baird Sisters, and appeared as a backing vocalist on Bonny 'Prince' Billy
Will Oldham
Will Oldham , better known by the stage name Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded under variations of the Palace name, including the Palace Brothers, Palace Songs, and Palace Music...
's 2007 EP Ask Forgiveness.
She also appeared as a backing vocalist on Sharon Van Etten's
Sharon Van Etten
Sharon Van Etten is an American singer-songwriter based in Brooklyn, New York City.Her songs were described by the music website Pitchfork Media as having "some echoes of folk tradition but generally in a more personal, introspective space." NPR Music asserts: "Her songs are heartfelt without being...
second album, Epic
Epic (Sharon Van Etten album)
Epic is the second album by American singer–songwriter Sharon Van Etten. The final song on the album, Love More has been covered in concert by high profile artists such as Bon Iver, Dave Alvin, and The National. The album was released on September 21, 2010 to critical acclaim.-Track listing:All...
. As a solo artist, she has toured with Bert Jansch
Bert Jansch
Herbert "Bert" Jansch was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s, as an acoustic guitarist, as well as a singer-songwriter...
, James Blackshaw
James Blackshaw
James Blackshaw is a Hastings-based guitarist and pianist, born in 1981. Blackshaw primarily plays an acoustic 12 string guitar and has been compared to Bert Jansch, Robbie Basho, John Fahey, Jack Rose, and Leo Kottke. To enable his fingerstyle playing, Blackshaw has grown long picklike fingernails...
, Micah Smaldone
Micah Smaldone
Micah Smaldone is a guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter originally from Kennebunkport, Maine. A founding member of the political punk band The Pinkerton Thugs, Smaldone is now mostly known for his solo releases as Micah Blue Smaldone which incorporate a wide variety of influences from country...
, Sharron Kraus
Sharron Kraus
Sharron Kraus is an English singer, songwriter and musician with strong ties to the US. Kraus was born in New York but grew up in Leicester, England...
and others.
Her vocal style has often been compared to that of Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
's Sandy Denny
Sandy Denny
Sandy Denny , born Alexandra Elene Maclean Denny, was an English singer and songwriter, perhaps best known as the lead singer for the folk rock band Fairport Convention...
and Pentangle
Pentangle (band)
Pentangle are a British folk rock band with some folk jazz influences. The original band were active in the late 1960s and early 1970s and a later version has been active since the early 1980s...
's Jacqui McShee
Jacqui McShee
thumb|300px|right|Jacqui McShee performing with [[Pentangle]] at the 2007 [[BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards]]Jacqueline 'Jacqui' McShee is an English singer. Since 1966 she has performed with Pentangle, a jazz influenced folk rock band.-Biography:McShee's musical career began as a soloist in British folk...
, although she has herself cited Trees
Trees (folk band)
Trees was an English folk rock band that existed between 1969 and 1972. Although the group met with little commercial success in their time, the reputation of the band has grown over the years. Like other folk contemporaries, Trees' music was influenced by Fairport Convention, but with a heavier...
' Celia Humphris as the more personally influential member of the 1960s and 70's UK folk
Electric folk
Electric folk is the name given to the form of folk rock pioneered in England from the late 1960s, and most significant in the 1970s, which then was taken up and developed in the surrounding Celtic cultures of Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man, to produce Celtic rock and its...
scene.
Most recently she appeared on a 7"
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
compilation entitled Meet the Philly Elite, featuring former touring partners Kurt Vile
Kurt Vile
Kurt Vile is a guitarist and singer born in 1980 from the Philadelphia suburb of Lansdowne, Pennsylvania. He was signed by Matador Records as a solo artist in May 2009....
and Jack Rose
Jack Rose (guitarist)
Jack Rose was an American guitarist originally from Virginia and later based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rose is best known for his solo acoustic guitar work. He was also a member of the noise/drone band Pelt....
, as well as US Girls.
Biography
Baird comes from a family with deep roots in the folk tradition. Baird is the great-great niece of Isaac Garfield "I.G." Greer, a historian and Appalachian folk singer born in 1881. His inclusion on one of the earliest albums issued by the Archive of American Folk SongArchive of Folk Culture
The Archive of Folk Culture was founded at the U.S. Library of Congress in 1928 as a repository for American folk music. The Archive of Folk Culture became part of the American Folklife Center in 1978...
in the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
helped expose Baird to folk music at young age while she was taking piano lessons, teaching herself guitar, and listening to Smithsonian Folkways
Folkways Records
Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987, and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.-History:...
LP
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
s.
Meg Baird
- Waltze of the Tennis Players/Dear Companion (A Capella Version) 7" (2006) (Tequila Sunrise)
- Leaves from Off the Tree CD/LP (2006) (Bo'Weavil), a collaboration with Sharron KrausSharron KrausSharron Kraus is an English singer, songwriter and musician with strong ties to the US. Kraus was born in New York but grew up in Leicester, England...
and fellow Espers member Helena Espvall - Dear CompanionDear CompanionDear Companion is Espers vocalist Meg Baird's first solo album. It was released in 2007 to critical praise. The album contains three traditional folk songs, four covers of more recent songs, and two original songs written by Baird. The album is lightly orchestrated traditional folk music,...
CD/LP (2007) (Drag City/Wichita/P-Vine) - Seasons on Earth CD/LP (2011) (Drag City)
The Baird Sisters
- At Home CD-R (2003) (self-released)
- Lonely Town CD (2008) (self-released)
Compilations
- So Much Fire to Roast Human Flesh CD (2006) (Bastet)
- Loving Takes This Course: A Tribute to the Songs of Kath BloomKath BloomKatherine Bloom is an American singer-songwriter based in Litchfield, Connecticut, whose sad voice often accompanies simple folk melodies.The daughter of oboist Robert Bloom, Kath grew up in New Haven, where she studied the cello as a child and started playing the guitar when she was a teenager...
CD (2009) (Chapter MusicChapter MusicChapter Music is one of Australia's longest-running independent record labels. It was founded by Guy Blackman in Perth in June 1992, after a few issues of a Syd Barrett inspired fanzine called Chapter 24, that Blackman started in October 1990, when he was seventeen...
) - Meet the Philly Elite (with Jack Rose, Kurt Vile, and US Girls) 7" (2009) (Kraak)
- "We are all one, In the Sun: A tribute to Robbie Basho" CD (2010) (Important Records)