Band The Stray Birds set to fly into Columbus

T. J. McGarry
Tue, 03 Dec 2013 03:10:14 +0000
Campus, americana, columbus performing arts center, maya de vitry, shedd theater, the stray birds

Americana band The Stray Birds is slated to perform Dec. 6 at the Shedd Theater in the Columbus Performing Arts Center.
Credit: Courtesy of Doug Seymour

Make no mistake, these birds know where to land in Ohio.

The Stray Birds are set to soar into Columbus 8 p.m. Friday for a show at the Shedd Theater in the Columbus Performing Arts Center. The show is part of the Six String Concert series featured by Six String Concerts, Inc., a group which sponsors roughly 10 folk shows a year for Columbus audiences.

The Stray Birds are an Americana band with a sound combined of folk, country, blues, rock ‘n’ roll and other traditional American music.

“It’s a really new genre,” said Maya de Vitry, singer and guitarist for The Stray Birds. “It comes from all these different kinds of music.”

The Stray Birds are a trio, consisting of de Vitry, who also plays banjo, Oliver Craven on vocals, guitar and fiddle and Charles Muench on vocals, upright bass and banjo.

De Vitry and Craven began performing together in 2010, recording The Stray Birds’ first EP, “Borderland.” In 2012, the band brought in Muench and recorded its first full album, “The Stray Birds.” The album was named one of NPR’s Top 10 Folk/Americana Releases of the year.

De Vitry said bringing in Muench helped develop the band’s music.

“Having him on board really helped to round out the sound,” de Vitry said.

While the band’s music fits into the Americana genre, de Vitry said the band’s influences vary.

“We all have different songwriting influences,” de Vitry said. “Our influences could be anyone from John Fullbright to the anonymous fiddle player you meet at three in the morning in Virginia one night.”

However, de Vitry said the band’s influences do all have one thing in common.

“The people we’re most influenced by really value the craft,” de Vitry said. “They put their heart and soul into the music.”

All three members of The Stray Birds grew up in Lancaster County, Pa., and de Vitry attributes their similar origins to the creation of the band.

“We’ve found better company elsewhere … I don’t think coming from where we did influences us,” de Vitry said. “In some ways, I feel as if it was a happy accident we all grew up so close.”

Some Ohio State students said they enjoy the band’s soft style and relaxed rhythms.

“I would go see a show by them, they seem very eclectic,” said Josh Burlile, a fourth-year in French. “They’re very mellow … They seem to have something more interesting to say than other groups.”

While The Stray Birds might be relatively new to the music scene, de Vitry said the band has big goals for the future.

“We want to expand the places that we tour in the Northeast, maybe move up to some larger rooms because we’re starting to sell out the smaller ones,” de Vitry said. “We want to play more festivals … there are some other great bands of young people out there and we’d love to network with them.”

Tickets are $16 for students, $23 for adults and $6 for youth and can be purchased at Brown Paper Tickets, through mail or at the door. The Columbus Performing Arts Center is located at 549 Franklin Ave., and doors are set to open at 7:30 p.m.

Rebecca Frazier is scheduled to open the show.