Meg Baird

Currently based in San Francisco, Meg Baird records as a solo artist and is the songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and frontwoman for Heron Oblivion. She was formerly a member of psych-folk outfit Espers and half of the family duo the Baird Sisters. Her roots are deeply entwined in the Celtic/Anglo folk and American psych traditions as well as in Americana. Her delicate, crystalline vocal lilt and songwriting perfectly fit that milieu. Along with frequently collaborating with other artists, her handful of acclaimed solo albums include the guest-star-heavy 2011 effort Seasons on Earth and 2023's Furling, on which Baird played almost everything herself. In 2005, Baird met and established a friendship with Oxford, England's folk chanteuse Sharron Kraus. The latter later relocated to Philadelphia. Baird, Kraus, and Espers cellist Helena Espvall recorded the 2006 Bo Weavil date Leaves from Off the Tree. Baird's solo debut, Dear Companion, issued in 2007 by Drag City, featured a wide selection of cover material and two originals that displayed not only her many influences but her command of the many interrelated languages of folk music. Baird toured the album and then went to work with Laura Baird as the Baird Sisters, releasing the album Lonely Town in 2008 before rejoining Espers, who recorded and released III in 2009. After extensive touring and a little time off, Baird cut Seasons on Earth, her sophomore solo album, on Drag City; it was released in September 2011 and featured guest appearances from Steve Gunn, Chris Forsyth, harpist Mary Lattimore, pedal steel player Marc Orleans, and others. That same year, Baird appeared on Kurt Vile's Smoke Ring for My Halo, then she turned up on Glenn Jones' My Garden State in 2012. Also in 2012, The Baird Sisters released Until You Find Your Green on the Grapefruit label. Baird relocated to San Francisco and became the drummer and lead vocalist in Heron Oblivion, a neo-psych band with guitarists Charles Saufley and Noel Von Harmonson (Sic Alps, Six Organs of Admittance) and bassist Ethan Miller (Howlin' Rain, Feral). Over the next several years, she contributed tracks to various-artist compilations such as Momentos 2011: Canciones Internacionales, Vol. II., Thirteenth, and Shirley Inspired. In June of 2015, she released her third Drag City solo album, Don't Weigh Down the Light, on which she and Saufley played all instruments. After touring in support of her solo work, Heron Oblivion issued their 2017 self-titled debut on Sub Pop with a sound described by the label as "pastoral pummel." For many years, Baird's career intersected that of avant harpist Mary Lattimore's. The latter's idiosyncratic voices and instrumental and compositional talents not only enriched her own work, but her recording and touring résumé offered a virtual pocket encyclopedia of contemporary indie and the experimental musicians she'd worked with. That said, despite traveling in the same circles for a decade, Baird and Lattimore had never collaborated before. In 2018, the pair joined forces for the album Ghost Forests, issued by Three Lobed. It offered six collaborative compositions conjured from harp, guitars, synths, and vocals. Prior to its release in mid-November, the pair toured Western Europe and the U.K. That same year, Heron Oblivion self-released its second album, The Chapel. Further, Baird and Saufley contributed the track "Protection Hex" to Drag City's Hexadic III compilation. The following year, she served as a guest vocalist on guitarist Steve Gunn's The Unseen In Between. In 2021, she contributed to a version of Lowell George's Little Feat classic "I've Been the One" to Bill Callahan's and Bonnie Prince Billy's guest-saturated, double-length covers set, Blind Date Party. Baird next sang guest vocals on the tracks "Forever Blues" and "Bolt" on Kentuckian Joan Shelley's seventh album, 2022's The Spur. In January of 2023, Baird released Furling, her first solo album in seven-and-a-half years. Instead of the usual host of guests, Baird played the majority of the instruments herself (though Lattimore still stopped by to add some harp) and handled the album's production. Despite this more internally built approach, Furling's arrangements were more intricate than some of Baird's previous solo efforts, expanding to add treated piano, drums, and layers of synths to her uniquely haunted folk style.
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