Redbird

In the music dictionary, “supergroup” has become an ugly word. (I apologize if Asia’s “The Heat of the Moment” is swirling through your head. It should pass.) But Redbird is made up of young, rising, acoustic singer/songwriters Peter Mulvey, Kris Delmhorst and Jeffrey Foucault, as well as multi-instrumentalist David “Goody” Goodrich. Though, only avid fans of modern acoustic folk will recognize the trio as a supergroup.

“We were definitely trying for something more off the cuff,” says Mulvey. “And we succeeded.” The new band recorded its self-titled debut for Signature Sounds in a living room in Wisconsin over a weekend. The three vocalists crowded around one microphone, and most songs were done in one or two takes. If you listen carefully, you can even hear crickets before the music starts on a few tracks.

The album features 17 songs that run the Americana gamut—including gilded tunes from Bob Dylan, R.E.M., Tom Waits and Willie Nelson. But the real gems are less shiny. Mulvey, Delmhorst and Foucault trade verses on Greg Brown’s whimsical “Ships” and then color it with lovely two- and three-part harmonies. Delmhorst reveals the softer side of Morphine’s late Mark Sandman performing the placid “Patience.”

“Picking the songs was a pretty unscientific process,” Delmhorst says. “The only conscious effort I remember making was trying to do some songs by friends who were less universally known writers.”

The idea came from two brief British tours. On the first, they started as a triple bill of solo artists. By the second, they became a fairly cohesive ensemble, mixing their original material with the vast American songbook.

The way the tour worked out, the artists ended up with no drives that were more than two hours. That gave them ample time to spend together, swapping books, stories and songs.

“The three of us were all interested in playing songs for each other,” Foucault says. “That was different. I can’t imagine another time where I would get done playing a couple of hours at a show and then uncase the guitar and keep playing music until all hours. It was a special tour in that way.”

The group’s members plan to tour in support of the Redbird album, but their focus remains decidedly on their solo careers.

“We don’t think about this record much,” Mulvey says. “We think about the next bunch of tunes that we are dealing with. As soon as this becomes a drag for us, we wouldn’t want to do it.”