Fish & Bird's relationship with folk music is a little complicated. Their love for old-time music and various other folk traditions comes from deep in their hearts, but that profound respect doesn't stop them from showing the genre a little abuse. At the core of the nebulous entity that is Fish & Bird is a partnership in music-making between virtuosic multi-instrumentalist Adam Iredale-Gray and singer/songwriter Taylor Ashton. Their musical education came from as diverse places as irish sessions, jazz school, garage rock, musical theatre, and old-time jams. What brought them together was a love of old-time music and what has kept them together for almost 3 years is their drive to draw new and exciting music from their influences. The sounds they make are not entirely unfamiliar, but they are not the kind you'd expect out of a banjo and a fiddle.

Their first, self recorded, self-produced, and self-titled EP, released in 2007, gained them the attention of festivals around B.C. and across Canada. Their latest recording, the full-length "Left Brain Blues" is a more mature and developed exploration of what happens when this pair's diverse musical influences collide. In just under an hour, it takes the folk genre for a ride and invites listeners along. Against all odds, the album manages to stay cohesive. It is tied together by Taylor Ashton's agile voice (which ranges from a phenomenal bass range to a very sturdy falsetto) and songwriting, and the pair's relentlessly creative arrangements. The album features a full cast of guest musicians, most notably Oliver Swain of Outlaw Social, whose deft command of the upright bass holds down nearly half the songs on the album. This most recent release garnered attention from the Canadian Folk Music Awards, and songs from both albums have been played on CBC and on college radio stations across Canada.

A live Fish & Bird show comes in many shapes and sizes - from a stripped-down duo show, to a five piece with guitar, upright bass and drums, and all sorts of instrumental configurations in between. They have played hundreds upon hundreds of shows, having toured the length of the country four times and done plenty of playing closer to home. They've played at events for the Vancouver Folk Music Festival and the budding Victoria Folk Festival. They've played for sold-out nightclub crowds. They've played for five people in the back rooms of cafes. What keeps them getting back on stage night after night is a passion to perform their unique brand of art folk for as many people as they can get to listen. Are you listening?

"...[Left Brain Blues] is getting a lot of play over at our house. It sounds great, and the picture on the inside is really cute." - Veda Hille Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.