The Fly Birds are a bluegrass/old time quartet based in northern Virginia who have been performing together this past six years. In addition to their popular live shows, they have an interesting naming convention for their recorded releases. After a self-titled EP in 2017, their next was called The Band is Causing Problems, followed up this year by The Band is Playing Covers.
Elizabeth Baker is on banjo, Mary Dunlap on bass, Sarah Twigg on guitar, and Crystal Shipley on fiddle. They play an interesting mix of bluegrass, folk, and Americana music that led them to be named winners of the 2019 DCBU Mid Atlantic Bluegrass Band Contest, and the 2021 Watermelon Pickers Fest competition.
The Band is Playing Covers is just as the title suggests, new grassed up versions of pop classics. Here’s an example with The Fly Birds’ take on Bob Dylan’s It Ain’t Me Babe, which he released in 1964. The song has been covered by dozens of artists over the years, including Flatt & Scruggs in 1968 and Kesha in 2016.
Now we have another from these ladies in Winchester, VA.
It Ain’t Me Babe, and the full The Band is Playing Covers album, are available from popular download and streaming services online. Radio programmers can get all the tracks via AirPlay Direct.
