The Mynabirds and The Art Of Losing Oneself

When any artist finds their defining sound it is a moment of revelation as much as it is a celebration.  There really isn’t any such thing as an “overnight success story”—even for the most successful artists—and most working bands will tell you of their repeated attempts and struggles to find their audience.  It takes some years and years to do so, but few are lucky enough to find their real voices in the process.  Laura Burhenn, singer/songwriter extraordinaire and one of the hardest working artists in recent memory seems to have found both in her great and critically acclaimed project The Mynabirds, and the world is musically a better place for it.

Of course it is no secret to anyone that knows me that I’ve become quite enamored of The Mynabirds and especially of their glorious debut What We Lose In The Fire We Gain In The Flood (for the uninitiated, please read my online review: http://www.slugmag.com/exclusives/2187/Mynabirds-What-We-Lose-In-The-Fire-Review.html) and in the span of a few months, it has become my most played album.  I simply cannot stop listening to it and am humbled by the new things that manifest themselves upon my repeated listenings.  Knowing I was going to have the opportunity to interview Burhenn when her band came to town, I purposely put the album away for a bit and only very recently took it out again.  I got goosebumps when I took that first spin again: the gospel-like beauty of “What We Gained In The Fire”, the Motown meets Stax sound of “Let The Record Go,” the rapturous brilliance of “Numbers Don’t Lie” (still my most played song on the album), the utter thrill of “LA Rain” all revealed themselves again.

Laura Burhenn is stunningly beautiful in person; especially her pretty blue eyes.  She is also rather petite.  To discover that such a soulful, powerful singing voice comes out of such a small frame isn’t too surprising—as most of my favorite singer/songwriters seem to share this distinction—but it is always slightly disarming the first time I’ve seen a singer in person or, as in this case, had the honor of actually meeting them.  This disbelief (which would become most evident when she took the stage later on and started singing) is quickly replaced through her charm and candor—not to mention her endless patience with this oddly obsessive fan here to interview her—as we began to speak on the back patio of the Urban Lounge.  Kevin Hart (my oldest friend in the world, that I first met in kindergarten) and a fellow fan joined me.  I start by confessing exactly how many times I’ve listened to the album by sharing with her a printout of my iTunes playlist.

Laura Burhenn: I think you might know this record better than I do at this point [laughter from all]...I’m afraid to sing these songs in front of you because I’ve been known to forget some lyrics every once in a while. [more laughter]

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