Indie folk duo The Winterlings, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Amanda Birdsall and Wolff Bowden, will perform a special concert series marking the release of their second album “You Are Acres” — including a stop at Eleven Winery on Bainbridge Island on Saturday, Jan. 30.
WXPN, the station licensed to the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, called the pair’s debut album “The Animal Groom” one of its staff’s “current favorites” upon release; and roots music magazine No Depression said their work was, “Excellent…an undeniable gem…will haunt both your waking hours and dreams.”
Following U.S. tour dates in support of that album, the band found themselves back home in Seattle to begin work on new music and draw upon the rich natural imagery around them.
“A lot of the songs are about being connected to a place, to a piece of land,” Birdsall said. “We call our song ideas ‘seeds’ and while lots of seeds came to us on the road, it makes sense that they sprouted better once the ground stopped moving beneath us. They needed deep soil and the Northwest rain to grow up into songs.”
The duo wrote, recorded and produced “You Are Acres” (due out Friday, Jan. 15) entirely in their home studio, adding electric guitar, bass and horns to the mix of several songs. Throughout the album, Birdsall and Bowden take turns singing lead and playing guitar, violin, banjitar, ukulele, harmonium, piano and foot percussion.
Birdsall left a doctoral program in psychology to volunteer on organic farms by day and write songs by night.
Bowden, a lifelong poet and visual artist, abandoned medical school plans when he was named Artexpo’s “Artist of The Millennium” for his paintings.
Upon meeting and moving to the Pacific Northwest, Bowden taught himself to play guitar and the couple began writing together. After recording an early album under a different name, they made their debut as The Winterlings in 2010.
The band has played New York’s CMJ Festival, Seattle’s EMP Museum and Northwest Folklife Festival, The Juan De Fuca Festival in Port Angeles and Fisherman’s Village Music Festival in Everett.
For details, visit www.elevenwinery.com, stop by the tasting room at 287 Winslow Way East or call 206-780-0905.
