Because we aren’t people who let two unused hours lie idly on a Monday evening, we headed to El Reno a few weeks ago to check out a band that our friend Geoff brought to town for a Rotary fundraiser.

Here’s a general idea of what they sound like but, really, the song doesn’t do justice to what you hear when sitting before the giant, giant sound of these two people.

[bandcamp track=2163138239 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]

Here’s a snip of a review of their latest album, Salt For Salt: “Recorded live to tape in Pawtucket, RI, “Salt For Salt” is the first album by Brown Bird to capture the intense energy of the duo’s live show, surging in waves that often swell into high-spirited, foot-stomping madness. David Lamb’s lyrics are as well-written as they are emotionally intelligent, thankfully avoiding the pitfalls of the wish-wash known as “modern-folk” or “singer-songwriting”. Lamb and his partner MorganEve Swain write simply, and the record is eerily sparse at times – a tambourine, a bass drum and the cello often the sole accompaniement to Lamb’s (what a name) cracked, wood-smoke voice.”

Yeah, I’d agree with that. They are folksy with an Eastern European thread weaving through a rootsy sound that is American more than anything. By the end of the performance David Lamb’s voice seized my attention in a way that had me whooping and hollaring like I was at a stadium show — and at a stadium show we were not. Apparently  Monday nights in downtown El Reno are not the hotbed attraction and it was poorly attended. I wasn’t sad that I didn’t have to share Brown Bird with a couple hundred people, though it would have been awesome for Rotary and Brown Bird to have been better compensated for their efforts. Because both efforts were outstanding.

Here’s a bit they did with MorganEve’s brother that was perhaps the most exciting thing I’ve seen this year. Wow! At the end of the video you can hear someone in the background say, “That was amazing.” That voice is my boyfriend, Clayton. The enthusiastic videographer is our friend Blake who we met through Turntable.fm and who was the person who introduced Clayton to Brown Bird.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhJ9PWJ356Y&w=560&h=315]

One more for the road that Blake filmed through some geeky, swanky app on his iPhone…

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_G-KbywQDg&w=420&h=315]