Meg Baird is an American musician based in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States, who, in addition to her solo career, is known as a founding member, lead vocalist, and drummer for Heron Oblivion, along with members from Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound and Comets on Fire. She was also a guitarist and the lead female vocalist in Philadelphia psychedelic folk rock band Espers, and played drums in Philadelphia punk band Watery Love. Baird frequently collaborates with the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

-based harpist Mary Lattimore.

Early life

Originally from

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, United States, Baird's family history is based 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 Folk Culture in the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

helped expose Baird to folk music at a young age, while she was taking piano lessons, teaching herself guitar, and listening to

Smithsonian Folkways Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was f ...

albums.

Music

While a member of Espers In 2007, Baird released her first solo album, '' Dear Companion'', on the Drag City record label. Baird's second solo album, ''Seasons on Earth'', was released in 2011 and received favorable reviews from ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...

'',

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, '' Spin'' and NPR. This was followed by '' Don't Weigh Down the Light'' in 2015, described as "post-folk" by the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

Bands and collaborations

Baird was a founding member of the Philadelphia psychedelic folk group Espers, whose first album was released by Time-Lag Records in 2003. In 2014, Baird joined Heron Oblivion as lead vocalist and drummer. The supergroup includes Charles Saufley, Noel Van Harmonson ( Comets on Fire), and Ethan Miller ( Howlin Rain, Comets on Fire). She also plays with sister Laura in The Baird Sisters and have released three albums between 2003 and 2011. In 2013, the Baird Sisters joined Glenn Jones on ''My Garden State''. Between 2009 and 2012, Baird played drums for Philadelphia punk band Watery Love. In 2018, Baird and Mary Lattimore released their album ''Ghost Forests'' to critical acclaim, reaching the number three position on

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new age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

chart.

Touring

As a solo artist, she has toured with many noted fingerstyle guitarists, including Bert Jansch, James Blackshaw, Micah Blue Smaldone, Michael Chapman, Glenn Jones, Michael Hurley, and Jack Rose. In February 2016 Baird served as the support act to Ryley Walker and

Danny Thompson Daniel Henry Edward Thompson (born 4 April 1939) is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist. He has had a long musical career playing with a large variety of other musicians, particularly Richard Thompson and John Ma ...

on an extensive tour of the United Kingdom. In 2019, Baird and Mary Lattimore toured extensively in support of their album ''Ghost Forests''.

Style and influences

Evoking Appalachian and Anglo-American folk ballads, Baird's vocal style has been compared to members of the UK folk-rock scene, including Celia Humpris of

Trees In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only p ...

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English British folk rock, folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson (musician), Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Marti ...

Sandy Denny Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny (6 January 1947 – 21 April 1978) was an English singer-songwriter who was lead singer of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. She has been described as " guably the pre-eminent British folk-rock sin ...

, and Pentangle's Jacqui McShee.

Discography

Meg Baird

*''Waltze of the Tennis Players/Dear Companion (A Capella Version)'' 7-inch (Tequila Sunrise, 2006) *'' Dear Companion'' (Drag City/Wichita/P-Vine, 2007) *''Seasons on Earth'' (Drag City, 2011) *'' Don't Weigh Down the Light'' (Drag City, 2015) *'' Furling'' (Drag City, 2023)

Meg Baird & Mary Lattimore

*''Fair Annie'' 7-inch split with Sarah Silverman - 7-Inches for Planned Parenthood 10×7″ box set (2017) *''Ghost Forests'' CD/LP (2018) (Three Lobed)

Heron Oblivion

*''Heron Oblivion'' CD/LP (2016) (

Sub Pop Sub Pop is an independent record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana (band), Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the gru ...

)

Espers

*'' Espers'' (2004) (Time-Lag) *'' The Weed Tree'' (2005) (Locust Music) *'' II'' (2006) (Drag City) *'' III'' (2009) (Drag City)

The Baird Sisters

*''At Home'' CD-R (2003) (self-released) *''Lonely Town'' CD (2008) (self-released) *''Until You Find Your Green'' LP, ed. 300 (2012) (Grapefruit) * Glenn Jones / The Baird Sisters ''My Garden State'' CD/LP (2013) (Thrill Jockey)

Collaborations and backing vocals

*Meg Baird, Helena Espvall, Sharron Kraus, ''Leaves from Off the Tree'' CD/LP (2006) (Bo'Weavil) * Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - '' Ask Forgiveness'' CD/EP (2007) (Drag City)Jurek, Thom. "Ask Forgiveness Review" ''Allmusic'', retrieved April 15, 2009. * Sharon Van Etten - ''

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

'' CD/LP (2010) (Ba Da Bing!) * Kurt Vile - '' Smoke Ring for My Halo'' CD/LP (2011) (Matador) * Kurt Vile - '' Singles Going Home Alone#6'' split 7-inch (2011) (Matador)

Watery Love

*''Debut 45'' 7-inch (2009) (Richie) *''Two Thrills'' 7-inch (2011) (Negative Guest List/Little Big Chief) *''Die With Dignity'' 7-inch (2012) (Siltbreeze)

Compilations

*''So Much Fire to Roast Human Flesh'' CD (2006) (Bastet) *''Loving Takes This Course: A Tribute to the Songs of

Kath Bloom Katherine Bloom is an American folk songwriter based in Litchfield, Connecticut. Biography The daughter of oboist Robert Bloom, Bloom grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, where she studied the cello as a child and started playing the guitar wh ...

'' CD (2009) ( Chapter Music) *''Meet the Philly Elite'' (with Jack Rose, Kurt Vile, and US Girls) 7-inch (2009) (Kraak) *''We are all one, In the Sun: A tribute to Robbie Basho'' CD/LP (2010) (Important Records) *''Shirley Inspired'' CD/LP (2015) (Earth Records)

References

External links

Official websiteDrag City Records siteThe Baird Sisters official websiteBaird discusses new album ''Seasons on Earth''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baird, Meg Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American women guitarists Guitarists from Pennsylvania American folk musicians Drag City (record label) artists Wichita Recordings artists Espers (band) members