Georgie James’ Laura Burhenn Forms New Solo Project: The Mynabirds

Debut Album What We Lose In The Fire We Gain In The Flood Out April 27th on Saddle Creek

Free MP3 of “Numbers Don’t Lie” Available HERE

Drawing upon the gospel, old soul, and rock n roll records that she grew up with, Laura Burhenn will unveil What We Lose In The Fire We Gain In The Flood (April 27, Saddle Creek), her debut album as The Mynabirds. Despite her small size and the clean sound found in her work with Georgie James, Burhenn shells out an enormously rich and husky voice on her new album. Her vocals color the vivid imagery of her lyrics, many of which were inspired by a Zen look at ideas of loss and recovery. Whether upbeat or introspective, Burhenn remains soulful and honest sentiment at her core. She simultaneously harnesses the charm of contemporaries Cat Power and Feist, as well as the fervor and magnitude of iconic influences Nina Simone and Grace Slick.

Following the breakup of DC duo Georgie James, Burhenn turned inward and truly found her voice in the spring of 2009. She crafted a new batch of songs and enlisted singer-songwriter/producer Richard Swift to help the material come to life in the studio. The Mynabirds, inspired by the name of a forgotten Motown Records band that included Rick James and Neil Young, is the project that emerged from these sessions.

The album also includes some notable guest artists. Tom Hnatow (These United States) played pedal steel, Nate Walcott (Bright Eyes) arranged the horns on the album and backing vocals were provided by Orenda Fink (Azure Ray) and engineer/producer AJ Mogis (Orenda Fink Monsters of Folk, Cursive, Tilly and The Wall).

As The Mynabirds, Burhenn walks a fine line between deep contemplation and absolute joy. Dark and light, old and new, and soft and loud – all work in tandem to create a truly dimensional record that is rich emotion and perfectly in balance.

In the spring of 2009 Laura Burhenn gathered her favorite books, records, and people around her and wrote what would become the first record from her new band, The Mynabirds. Following the break-up of Georgie James and some tough personal losses, Laura (one half of the former DC duo) started exploring the idea of collective consciousness and reading a lot of Jung and Sufi poetry. The first batch of songs she wrote didn't exactly work, she says: "Too much head and not enough heart." So she scrapped nearly everything and started again.

She went back to gospel hymns, to old country harmonies, to Rock and Roll records that shaped her. She stepped away from the piano and wrote whole songs with just a tambourine and the stomp of her feet. "I wanted to write something honest and raw," Laura says, "to make a record that sounded like Neil Young doing Motown, or a revival at a Buddhist monastery -- something simple and strong, old and new at once." With everything stripped to bare bones, Laura took her new set of songs to singer-songwriter/producer Richard Swift. And in a studio in the rugged hills of Oregon in the summer heatwave of 2009, they took turns at instruments and harmonies until the record was fully fleshed. What emerged was the definitive Mynabirds' sound: something new, but still raw with the emotion of old soul, nodding to gospel and garage, with echoes of Dusty Springfield, Carole King, and Bobbie Gentry bleeding through the tape.

"Those sessions were the most fun I've ever had recording music," Laura says. "When we finished for the night, we'd polish off a bottle of whiskey and dance to records -- Dandy Livingstone, Buffy Sainte-Marie, James Brown -- until the sun came up." That energy really shows itself on the album, particularly in "Let the Record Go" and "Numbers Don't Lie." Other songs, like "What We Gained in the Fire" and "Right Place," are more reflective, revealing lyrics that were clearly inspired by Eastern teachings. Even the album title, What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood, sounds like the reworking of a Rumi poem. While the album features mostly Laura and Richard, a few notable guests appear. Orenda Fink (Azure Ray) and AJ Mogis (Criteria) lent their voices; Tom Hnatow (These United States) played pedal steel; and Nate Walcott (Bright Eyes) arranged the horns that underscore The Mynabirds' soul-soaked sound.

When it came time to find a name for the project, a friend's James Joyce reference led Laura to consider the name "The Mynabirds," which just so happens to be synonymous with a band that included Neil Young, Rick James, and some other heavy-hitters; they were signed to Motown, but never released an album. That serendipitous discovery seemed like the perfect moniker for the project: a collection of sounds and songs, people and events, that all seem to fall perfectly in place.