Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds is a

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

-based seven-piece soul/rock band. The band is led by singer Arleigh Kincheloe, with Jackson Kincheloe on harmonica, Josh Myers on bass, Dan Boyden on drums, Phil Rodriguez on trumpet, and Brian Graham on baritone and tenor saxophones. Since 2011, Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds have played at venues across the US and Canada. Their list of festival appearances includes Bonnaroo, Firefly, Mountain Jam, Bear Creek, Telluride Jazz, High Sierra, Rooster Walk, Harvest Jazz Festival and late-night sets at Austin City Limits and the Jazz & Heritage Festival in New Orleans.

History

Frontwoman Sister Sparrow first began writing music while living between

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and the

Catskill Mountains The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas c ...

as a teenager. Accompanied by her brother Jackson on harmonica, the band first got together in September 2008. While Sister Sparrow is the principal songwriter of the band, the entire band works collaboratively on arrangements. By the middle of 2009, Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds had a weekly show at New York's Rockwood Music Hall on Saturday nights, holding down a five-month-long residency there. The band embarked on its first tour at the end of April 2011. By the end of the year, they had played about 150 shows in 28 states. They opened for bands and musicians such as

Dr. John Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music encompassed New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B. Active as a session musician from t ...

, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, and the Soul Rebels Brass Band.

Recordings

''Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds'' (2010)

Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds released its self-titled debut album in November 2010. It was recorded almost completely live in just one night at

Avatar Studios Power Station at BerkleeNYC, formerly known as Avatar Studios (1996–2017) and Power Station, is a recording studio at 441 West 53rd Street between Ninth and Tenth avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City. The bui ...

in New York City. The album was listed as one of the top Non-Jazz Favorites for 2010 by All About Jazz. Independent Media Magazine awarded it the "Best album you probably didn't hear in 2010" in its 2010 IMM Music Awards.

''Pound of Dirt'' (2012)

On February 28 they released their second album ''Pound of Dirt''.

''Fight'' EP (2013)

In March 2013, the band went into the legendary Henson Recording Studios in LA and recorded an EP with Grammy-award winner and former American Idol judge

Randy Jackson Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American record executive and television presenter, perhaps best known as a judge on ''American Idol'' from 2002 to 2013. Jackson began his career in the 1980s as a session musician playing bas ...

. The EP consisted of four songs and was released in October of the same year.

''The Weather Below'' (2015)

The third studio album by the band was released on May 18, 2015. It was recorded at

Bear Creek Studio Bear Creek Studio is a residential recording studio located in Woodinville, Washington, situated in a barn on a 10 acre farm. Known for its "rural farmhouse" location, a number of artists have recorded at the studio, including: Brandi Carlile, T ...

in Woodinville, Washington over three weeks in December 2014. The album is produced by Ryan Hadlock, and written by Arleigh Kincheloe.

''Fowl Play'' (2016)

The band's first live album was released on March 4, 2016. It was recorded at The Warehouse in

Fairfield, Connecticut Fairfield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It borders the city of Bridgeport and towns of Trumbull, Easton, Weston, and Westport along the Gold Coast of Connecticut. Located within the New York metropolitan area ...

on December 31, 2015. The album was recorded by Lucas Tecun, mixed by Micah Davis, and mastered by Greg Calbi.

''Gold'' (2018)

Sister Sparrow released a new single, "Ghost," on August 3, 2018 in anticipation of the next album, ''Gold'', out October 12, 2018 on Thirty Tigers. The album was produced and co-written in collaboration with Carter Matschullat at Brooklyn's DØØM Studio.

Band members

Sister Sparrow, also known as Arleigh Kincheloe, is the frontwoman of the Dirty Birds. She was born and raised in the

, where she began singing in her parents' band at the age of nine. Jackson Kincheloe was raised in upstate New York by musician parents. Starting on

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

and

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

in grade school, moving to tuba and

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

in high school, he eventually stuck with the

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

and joined his sister Arleigh.

Bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

Josh Myers was born outside of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

and lives in

. He has appeared on more than 20 recordings and played alongside John Scofield,

Kenny Werner Kenny Werner (born November 19, 1951) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and author. Early life Born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 19, 1951 and then growing up in Oceanside, Long Island, Werner began playing and performing at a young a ...

Ralph Alessi Ralph Alessi (born March 5, 1963) is an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and ECM recording artist. Alessi is known as a virtuosic performer whose critically-acclaimed projects include his Baida Quartet, with Jason Moran, Drew Gress, and Nashee ...

, and

Wayne Krantz Wayne Krantz is an American guitarist and composer. He has performed and recorded with Steely Dan, Michael Brecker, Donald Fagen, Billy Cobham, Chris Potter, David Binney, and Carla Bley. Since the early 1990s, Krantz has focused primarily ...

. In the US, he has performed at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

, New York's

Blue Note Jazz Club Blue Note Jazz Club is a jazz club and restaurant located at 131 West 3rd Street in Greenwich Village, New York City. The club was opened on September 30, 1981, by owner and founder Danny Bensusan, with the Nat Adderley Quintet being the featured ...

, and the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

Drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

Dan Boyden hails from Portland, Maine. Before joining the Dirty Birds, he was an active member of the local music scene. He is a founding member of funk/soul outfit Model Airplane and has played with numerous bands and artists including The Kenya Hall Band, Connor Garvey, Sara Hallie Richardson, and Christian Cuff.

Baritone Saxophonist The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contraba ...

Brian Graham was born in NYC, raised in Bennington, VT and studied Jazz Performance at The University of Southern Maine. In addition to working with the Dirty Birds, he is a co-leader of

The Fogcutters The Fogcutters are a rock funk band based in Portland, Maine under the direction of trombonist John Maclaine and baritone saxophonist Brian Graham. The Fogcutters began as a 19 piece original big band but has evolved continuously since being star ...

, a 19-piece Big Band based in Portland, Maine. He is also member of the seven piece funk band Sly-Chi, and co-creator of Big Band Syndrome. He has shared the stage with John Popper (Blues Traveler),

Chris Barron Chris Barron (born Christopher Gross; born February 5, 1968) is an American singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer of Spin Doctors. Biography Christopher Gross was born February 5, 1968, in Honolulu, where his father was statio ...

(

Spin Doctors Spin Doctors are an American alternative rock band from New York City, best known for their early 1990s hits "Two Princes" and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong", which peaked on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart at No. 7 and N ...

), The Soul Rebels Brass Band, and

Big Sam's Funky Nation Sammie 'Big Sam' Williams is a trombonist and band leader from New Orleans, Louisiana. He has been a member of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and leads Big Sam's Funky Nation. Career In his youth, he studied with saxophonist Kidd Jordan and at Ne ...

Trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

er Phil Rodriguez was born and raised in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

, where he began studying

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

at age five and trumpet at age twelve. He holds a degree in jazz studies from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. In addition to his work with Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds, he performs regularly with jazz-rockers East West Quintet, neo-soul band The Hipstones, and punk-improv quartet The (Notorious) L.A. Music Scene. He has recorded with Hercules and Love Affair, Jessica 6, Wires Under Tension, Industrial Jazz Group,

Eleanor Friedberger Eleanor Friedberger (born September 2, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She is best known as one half of the indie rock duo The Fiery Furnaces, alongside her older brother Matthew Friedberger. In the band she co ...

of The Fiery Furnaces,

Jenny Owen Youngs Jenny Owen Youngs (born November 22, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter. She has released three albums and a handful of EPs both independently and via Nettwerk Records, and has toured worldwide. Youngs is also a songwriting collaborator whos ...

, and Jinsai. Phil also leads and composes for his own ensemble, a six-piece slowcore post-jazz group called Underbelly. In early 2013, the band announced that three original members, JJ Byars, Johnny Butler, and Aidan Carroll were leaving to pursue other projects. The band also announced the addition of baritone saxophonist Brian Graham and bassist Josh Myers. In 2014, original members Ryan Snow and Bram Kincheloe also left to pursue other projects.

Discography

Studio albums

Live album

Extended Play

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds Rock music groups from New York (state) American soul musical groups Musical groups established in 2008 Thirty Tigers artists