Mama Bird Recording Co.

07/06/2024

🌈 Here's a lil' playlist for whatever transition yer in, curated with love by Nick Delffs, whose album 'Transitional Phase' comes out July 26th ✨

Listen & follow: https://tinyurl.com/transitionalsongs

08/05/2024

A year ago this week, we released Dean Johnson's sacred debut album ‘Nothing for Me, Please’ into the Universe. The first time we heard Dean, a decade or so earlier, that voice & those songs stunned & consumed us—a sound that just plain stopped your heart & started it again anew. So we knew it’d connect with folks quickly, & we knew there were already Dean acolytes out there; but holy great goodness, y’all’s response has been magnificent! Your comments & overwhelming help spreading the good word have absolutely made every difference for this album, for Dean, & for us as a small independent label. Endless gratitude to Dean for entrusting us with his art & to all of you for helping us champion the holy heck outta it! 🙏💜🙏

01/05/2024

We've got a most excellent music video for “Power and Position”, the brand-spankin’ new Nick Delffs single from his forthcoming album ‘Transitional Phase’, out July 26th! We’ve put in an Oscar bid on his behalf for his starring role, of course 🏆🎭

Watch: https://youtu.be/IAsqxkXCz9I

A record label committed to exceptional songcraft & community. Based just outside Portland, Oregon.

30/04/2024

We’re over the mooooon to announce Nick Delffs' fantastic new album 🐄 Transitional Phase 🐄!

It'll be out July 26th, but you can pre-order the album & stream the first single “Power and Position” (perhaps our favorite Delffs tune to date!) right here right now: https://mamabird.lnk.to/MB073

16/10/2023

Whewww! Big ole thank you to the incredible number of Haley Heynderickx repressing pre-orderers. There were so many orders, it took us a week to get them all packed & labeled, and then we had to rent a 26ft uhaul truck to get them to the post office, but they're finally heading your way! Sending along our eternal gratitude for everyone's support & patience as we navigated a few delays. Now, it's time for our dear intern Lyle to take a weeklong nap 🖤

19/08/2023

🌿 RELEASE DAY! It was an awful hot week out here in Oregon, but we’ve been bathing in the cool, clear waters of Anna Tivel's new album ‘Outsiders (Live in a Living Room)’, the gorgeous acoustic companion to last year’s studio record. Out today, this one’s got Anna on vocals & acoustic guitar, accompanied by Jon Neufeld's eternally tasteful wonderpickin’. Together, they deliver extra tender, wide-open-hearted takes on the 11 tracks on ‘Outsiders’ + the stunning b-side, “American Novella”. Jon also recorded, mixed & mastered this beauty. Dip yer toes in its healing waters: https://mamabird.lnk.to/mb065

28/07/2023

It’s been a year since we released Skyway Man & Andy Jenkins' tasty EP ‘Nothing No. 1’! To celebrate, we’re sharing this delightfully askew “movie”, filmed by Wolfgang Daniel while they were at TOURISTS Welcome last year.

Watch here: https://youtu.be/6JKaLYUmPOA
Stream/save/share the EP: https://mamabird.lnk.to/mb055

+ A note from James (Skyway Man):

“In Dec 2022, me & Andy I traveled to perform at the dream compound Tourists in North Adams, Massachusetts (home of MASS MoCA). Accompanied by filmmaker Wolf Daniel, we documented our quest to reconcile our different understandings of wind chimes. The come down was slow.

“Note: A recurring phrase—‘Sign me up, maestro’—will be familiar to anyone who has enjoyed Fritz Lang’s underrated 'Melde mich an, Maestro!' (1923) which Andy was obsessed with at the time.

“Can we love a new sound? Can we cross the rushing water together? Can we walk alone by the tracks under a strange light? Here comes Nothing No. 1 - the movie & thank you.”

13/07/2023

Dean Johnson & Esther Rose did this wholly wonderful rendition of "Old TV", which was beautifully captured by Western AF. You can find the song on Dean's new record 'Nothing for Me, Please' AND you can find Dean & Esther on the East Coast this week! 👨🏻👱🏻‍♀️

July 14 - New York City, NY - The Bowery Ballroom
July 15 - Freehold, NJ - Concerts in the Studio
July 16 - Washington, DC - Union Stage

Western AF presents Dean Johnson "Old TV"...Early last October, Esther Rose sang harmonies and strummed guitar on a couple of my songs at the first ever West...

30/06/2023

Dean Johnson's making his Nashville debut this September for the Americana Music Association's AmericanaFest! 🤠

Very happy to announce that my first ever visit to Nashville will be as an 'Official Showcasing Artist' at Americana Music Association's AmericanaFest: The 2023 Americana Music Festival & Conference! You can buy festival/conference wristbands now. Or buy a ticket at the door for just my showcase, which will be Thursday night, Sept. 21st, 10pm at Anzie Blue. Can’t wait!

https://americanamusic.org/about-americanafest

23/05/2023

Luka Kuplowsky's new single "Sudden Reach from the Inner World" is a meditative, deep-seeping embrace, and it's out today, waiting for you with open arms everywhere you listen to music. Released in cahoots with our Next Door Records friends up north.

Stream/save/share: https://mamabird.lnk.to/MB064

22/05/2023

!!! Anna Tivel's Tiny Desk Concert with NPR Music is out today! Anna's joined by the most tasteful, gently jazzy accompaniment from Galen Clark on keys & Micah Hummel on drums. It's quite wonderful 🌈✨🌈

Watch riiiight here:

Ann Powers | May 22, 2023“We’re gonna play you a story,” the Oregon-based singer-songwriter Anna Tivel says, introducing “Black Umbrella,” her searing ballad...

17/05/2023

Anna Tivel's new single “The Good Fight” is out today. A previously unreleased b-side from the sessions that produced her 2022 album ‘Outsiders’, this one just feels more necessary with each listen, each passing day in this ole eternal rat race. Read Anna’s thoughts below & then give it a listen right here: https://mamabird.lnk.to/MB062

“A song about our mad forward-fueled grasping at some kind of arrival, success, validation, understanding. So much of living is spent in a hopeful future gaze, but the destination won’t keep still & we forever reach for new & different truths as we stumble & grow. Maybe everything is happening in every moment, a big confusing & spectacularly alive explosion that is ours to battle & embrace. Maybe there is no ‘there’ & if it was all gone tomorrow, the supreme struggle would have been undeniably worth it.”

16/05/2023

There's a fannntastic new music video out today for the Dean Johnson track, "Acting School". Sometimes you shouldn't trust your friends with your art, but sometimes you also definitely should. This turned out to be one of those times!

Watch here: https://youtu.be/h_8fvDPw-IM

Starring Chris Acker & Sam Gelband
Written & directed by Sam Gelband, Chris Acker & Noé Cugny
Camera & edit by Noé Cugny
With help from Horatio Baltz & Andy Thomas

26/04/2023

Dean Johnson's “Shouldn’t Say Mine”, the third & final single from his upcoming debut album, is a perfect representation of why his songwriting is so special. Most of Dean’s tunes can be categorized as love songs or lost-love songs. It is an art form that most often feels trite & even trivial, rarely capturing the actual complexities of human relationships. Dean’s songs give us so much more, though. His every word choice & turn of phrase is full of intention & poetic nuance, and delivered with such a melodic & lyrical ease that just pulls you all the way in. It’s a rare & wonderful thing. Go give it a listen wherever you listen, save, & share it as we ready his debut album ‘Nothing for Me, Please’ for release next Friday, May 5th.

https://mamabird.lnk.to/mb047

Absolutely fantastic photograph by Jason Neuerburg at the one & only Al's Tavern 🍻

18/04/2023

Today, we share Anna Tivel's “American Novella”, a remarkably eloquent B-side recorded during the ‘Outsiders’ album sessions. Link below to get properly gobsmacked, & don’t miss Anna out on tour with her wonderful band right meow 🐈‍⬛

https://mamabird.lnk.to/MB061

12/04/2023

New Luka Kuplowsky single out today! "The Spirits Are Busy" is a soulful, mystical reflection with a tender, eeeeasy melody that's quite wonderful. Listen here: https://mamabird.lnk.to/MB063

⋆ A note from the artist:

"The song is a recognition of the unanswerable. It is an attunement to the spiritual worlds that intersect and illuminate our daily lives. The spirits are busy? Is that good? Bad? Are they busy with us? Busy elsewhere? Attending to the universal song? Bathing in the interstellar stream? Who knows, but they are certainly busy ... Musically, it’s Motown rhythm, garage jazz ala Blossom Dearie, and that amorphous Toronto sound of spaciousness and wonk."

07/04/2023

May we introduce you to “Fern Belly”, a new Haley Heynderickx ‘I Need to Start a Garden’ LP color variant that is now available for pre-order from our Bandcamp store (psst it's Bandcamp Friday today)!

Limited to 1000 copies worldwide, this beauty will be pressed on heavyweight 180g vinyl. Big thanks to all of you for voting. C won in a tight race, followed by A and B. So so many great variant names submitted, it was tough to choose, but Christie Stidham's “Fern Belly” felt jussst right. Thanks everyone, that was super fun 🖤

Pre-order here: https://haleyheynderickx.bandcamp.com/album/i-need-to-start-a-garden

06/04/2023

Since pre-orders for Haley Heynderickx's ‘I Need to Start a Garden’ "golden violet" vinyl sold out so dang fast (thank you!)—and we believe a limited run of 1000 should mean just that—we’ve decided to add another color variant! AND we want to put the choice in your very capable hands! So here's what we need from you:

🌻 You have until 8pm Pacific tomorrow (Thursday) to comment with your pick of the 3 options above (A, B or C) and what you'd call it (past variant names include Golden Violet, Tiger’s Eye, Smoky Jade, Mother of Pearl). We’ll then tally them up, pick our favorite name, and *IMPORTANT* put it up for pre-order at 9AM Pacific this coming (Bandcamp) Friday!

🌻 Bonus: If we choose your variant name submission, you'll win a copy of this variant AND a "golden violet" LP!

23/03/2023

What an absolute joy & privilege it is to introduce you to the newest addition to our humble family: Seattle songwriter Dean Johnson.

As many in the Seattle community (& a few of us lucky enough to cross paths with such a voice, such songs, such melodies, such a gentle soul) know, Dean has long been a deeply treasured discovery. The first time we heard Dean nearly/maybe a decade ago, he opened for Denver & Barna Howard up in Seattle; & I can remember it so clearly, all of us standing at the back of the room, fully astonished, looking back & forth at each other. I don’t believe I’ve ever had such an immediate reaction to an unknown (to me) opener.

We've been in touch with Dean ever since, & have been working in sleuth together for a good, long time now, getting this record properly seasoned for y’all. In all that time, I’ve been quietly telling friends about this guy in Seattle with the perfect mustache, the kindest eyes, & a sound that I can only describe as ~

~ Roy Orbison around the campfire ~

~ So it feels like a massive understatement to say that we are so truly grateful to be the ones who finally get to share these songs & this artist with the wider world. With all that said, have a listen to the 1st single "Faraway Skies", the song that had us hopelessly hooked from the get-go; & while you're at it, give Dean a follow on your preferred social+streaming platforms, & pre-order/save his debut album ‘Nothing for Me, Please’, to be released May 5th.

https://mamabird.lnk.to/MB047

03/03/2023

Surprise! It’s Bandcamp Friday & we just put up a pre-order for Haley Heynderickx's ‘I Need to Start a Garden’, soon-to-be pressed for the first time on heavyweight 180g vinyl. We’ll have standard black copies & this awful pretty limited edition “golden violet” color variant 💜

While the gettin's good: https://haleyheynderickx.bandcamp.com/album/i-need-to-start-a-garden

24/02/2023

RELEASE DAY! Jenny O.'s new album *Spectra* is a radiant burst of transcendent joy & understanding. It is a celebration & a manual for surviving, thriving & participating positively in an infinitely nuanced & neurodiverse world. It is full of psychedelic earworms, new-wave grooves, fuzzy tenderness & radical hymns of affirmation.

TL;DR: This record bops, buoys, grooves & connects 🌈

Out today on all digital platforms! Physical copies will be in stores this spring (updates coming soon).

Stream, save, share & pre-order here: https://mamabird.lnk.to/mb059

16/01/2023

You are loved eternally! New Jenny O. single + lyric video premiered by Under the Radar today. It'll be on all streaming platforms tomorrow.

🌺 bop this link 🌱 for a dose of ☀️ radiant affirmation 🐸: http://dlvr.it/SgyrFJ

13/01/2023

It’s Friday & Barna Howard + band are playing Lollipop Shoppe tonight!
+ the legends of Portland Country Underground
+ our pal DJ Stonebunny
+ excited to finally see Portland’s newest venue from the LOSE YR MIND buds!

Hope to see all you boot-scootin’ townies there. All signs point to one not too pretttty bad evenin’ 🤠

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/barna-howard-with-portland-country-underground-tickets-501075860387

12/01/2023

Here's Anna Tivel performing "Heroes" for The Schoolhouse Sessions, our new series filmed at our humble HQ. Anna's delivery here is + tremendous accompaniment by Micah Hummel (drums) & Galen Clark (keys). Excited to share more of these this year 🍎

Anna Tivel performs "Heroes" live at the Mama Bird HQ (The Schoolhouse) in Helvetia, Oregon. The studio version of "Heroes" is available on Anna's new album ...

14/12/2022

WINTER WASSAILTIME! Join us this Saturday at Polaris Hall for performances from Anna Tivel, Haley Heynderickx, Matt Dorrien, Faustina Masigat, Nick Delffs & Ryan Oxford; plus an in-the-round segment; and a mingle-intermission with DJ Stonebunny. As always, tickets include an entry into our everflowing under-the-tree raffle 🎄

Tickets: https://mamabird.lnk.to/winterwassail22

Acclaimed local record label Mama Bird Recording Co. presents their 5th annual Winter Wassail: a community celebration of the warmth & fellowship needed to get through the grey days and long nights ahead. Expect a night of featured performances and collaborations from label artists (lineup coming so...

06/12/2022

Ahh! NPR Music's Ann Powers has named Anna Tivel's 'Outsiders' her Album of the Year! This write-up is truly beautiful and says it in all the ways we feel it 💙

Check out the full top 20 list & accompanying playlist here: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/06/1134902838/ann-powers-top-20-albums-of-2022

05/12/2022

Join us Saturday, December 17th at Polaris Hall for our 5th annual WINTER WASSAIL: a community celebration of the warmth & fellowship needed to get through the grey days & long nights ahead. Expect a night of featured performances & collaborations from label artists (lineup coming soon), plus DJs, hot drinks, much merriment, and an ever-flowing free-as-heck raffle. Wassail! Wassail!

Tickets on sale now: https://mamabird.lnk.to/winterwassail22

02/12/2022

It’s Bandcamp Friday AND we just started our December Sale! 25% OFF EVERY DANG THING ALL DANG MONTH using the code ‘angelbb’ at checkout 🕯

https://mamabird.bandcamp.com/merch

18/11/2022

RELEASE DAY! Taylor Kingman's new album ‘Hollow Sound’ is out now & it’s one heckuva doozy of cream-of-the-ole-crop songwriting soaked in a deep dark ocean of expansive, minimalist & supremely tasty sounds. It was recorded by good egg Ryan Oxford—in Taylor’s childhood home, an ancient schoolhouse in St. Paul, OR—with Jeff Leonard on bass, Jason Montgomery on pedal steel, Jon Neufeld on telecaster (+ mastering), & mixed by fellow Know-Nothing Tyler Thompson.

'Hollow Sound' is out across the worldwideweb today, with physical copies in stores later this winter. Listen & pre-order here: https://mamabird.lnk.to/MB058

Celebrate with us this evening at Mississippi Studios with Martha Scanlan & Jon Neufeld kicking things off (& celebrating their own album release)! 8pm doors.

Album design, illustration & typography by T.W. Rushing. Cover photograph by Matthew Kennelly. Additional design by Eric J. Loeffler.

16/11/2022

Taylor Kingman's solo full-length 'Hollow Sound' comes out this Friday, and today we share a music video for the title track. Edited beautifully with archival footage by album bassist Jeff Leonard.

Watch, stream, pre-order & tour dates: https://mamabird.lnk.to/MB058