Hi all - - - Our debut CD, Jetlag, is out! Available at Bull Moose Music, downtown Portland OR email us at birdintherafters@yahoo.com. Peace. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bird in the Rafters, originally a duo consisting of Emily and Tony, was launched in 2005 from their basement. Soon after, they sought refuge and company in the Portland indie rock scene. They performed with a then unknown Huak for their first show at the (now-closed) Ale House. Emily pounds on the drums and sings, a distinction few women in rock can claim. Listening intently to bands like My Bloody Valentine, Emily sings with sometimes breathy, otherworldly conviction. Tony, a veteran of several punk and indie bands from Omaha to Boston, lends his guitar and vocals to the band and delivers a raw sound that reveals a predilection for bands like Pavement and Fugazi. In fall 2007, Roy moved to Portland from Omaha and met up with Emily, who convinced him to hold down the low end and play bass. Having tuned into the burgeoning Omaha indie scene, Roy immediately synched in. The band’s collective spirit can be summed up in a quote from Wallace Stegner’s book The Spectator Bird, “It is something—it can be everything—to have found a fellow bird with whom you can sit among the rafters while the drinking and boasting and reciting and fighting go on below…” ------
The band started writing together that winter. BitR performed in public again in early 2008 for the first time as a trio. In a stroke of good fortune, Ron Harrity was in the audience. Ron Harrity, who runs Peapod Records and involved with seemingly hundreds of other projects, agreed to spare some of his time to record BitR. For the band, to hear their own managed chaos crystallized on record by Harrity’s deft studio wizardry was a revelation. On June 13, 2009, Bird in the Rafters' first album, Jetlag will be released at Space Gallery (BitR’s Space debut). The band is psyched to have Computer at Sea (a book oscillator invented by Galen Richmond was used in the BitR recording), Seymour, and the Winterpills join in for this event.
thanks so much for coming out to the show the other night guys! ...still working on slainte. if that doesn't work, we are looking at doing a dooryard cd release party in august that you guys should play at.
hey guys. I REALLY dig the new stuff. Birthday song is going to be stuck in my head for awhile. Huak is finally becoming active again, so we really need to ACTUALLY play a show together! I am planning on going to your show at the new cafe, so maybe we can talk afterwards. keep up the good work. -jake
you guys sounded great at the alehouse! its just too bad more indie people weren't there to hear. I have had kiss me on they cheek playing in my skull all evening. ...We are hoping to find a venue for an all ages show this summer, and if it works out, it would be cool to have bird in the rafters play. keep in touch. -jake and huak
