Jade Bird

One Liner: Beautifully voiced indie Americana from England but now in Austin

Wikipedia Genre:  Americana, indie, folk, rock, country
Home: England originally, but now in Austin!

Poster Position: Late Addition
Day: Saturday at 12:05 on the T-Mobile Stage
Weekend Two Only (boooooooooo).

Thoughts:  Just go listen to her cover of Radiohead's "Black Star."  It's gorgeous.  I'm so glad she is on this lineup, but sorely disappointed that she's only on one weekend!  How about us first weekend people who want to see her play!?!?!

Somehow, her name is actually Jade Elizabeth Bird, which is wonderful.  She's from Hexham, Northumberland, England (which makes me think she's actually a Harry Potter character - didn't Ron have the hots for Jade Bird from the Hufflepuff house in the Goblet of Fire?) but now she lives in Austin!  Hooray for Austin!  While still in Jolly old England, she recorded a demo in her final year at BRIT School (a high school where folks like Adele, Amy Winehouse, FKA Twigs, and Tom Holland went) that was noticed and got her a record deal.

Her music doesn't much sound like a Brit.  Definitely sounds more like someone who lives in Austin or Nashville or Asheville.  But it's lovely.  I reviewed her first album for this here blog a while back.  

Jade Bird - Jade Bird.  You may have heard the first track from this album a few times, its been on the radio around town after she killed SXSW and everyone fell in love with her. Won the prize for upcoming talent from the fest in 2018.  "Lottery" currently has 15.1 million streams [up to 23.5 million now].

Her voice is great - can go from a pretty, plaintive, warbled tunefulness to a full-on blast.  And the lyrics are catchy as hell and pretty solid.  Beautiful song.  The next one - "I Get No Joy" is a little more brassy and in the face, as is the other single I hear on the radio, "Uh Huh."  I prefer the former.  Overall, this is a really nice album, her voice shines and she can do a few good turns of phrase with her lyrics.  I'd like to see her play live sometime.

Her new album, 2021's Different Kinds of Light, is also very good.  "Headstart" is the hit from that one, with 6.8 million streams so far.

I'm almost offended that no music video is out there for that tune.  But again, you get a really catchy tune that gently rocks and pushes her voice to a blast, but also sounds nice.

Her most streamed tune is off of a 2017 EP called Something American. "What Am I Here For" has 29.4 million million streams and is also very nice.

Less of a driving rocker, more of a showcase for her voice backed by a slight accompaniment.  Lovely.

I really wish I could see this one.  A 12:05 slot and a Weekend Two only booking is an insult to a talent this good.  If you're going weekend two, pull this off.  Then you can go watch the rest of the TX/OU game in the beer tent.