Carolina-bred local duo debut music from their new album
This Thursday, the Hunter Museum of American Art will welcome the Americana duo Magic Birds, performing songs from their debut album The Music of Benjamin Bruce.
The band itself has its roots here in Chattanooga, but the duo are originally from the Carolinas—Ben Ezell from the North and Scott Bruce from the South. They met in 2012, while Ben taught at the same high school as Scott’s wife.
They bonded over a mutual love for Radiohead and decided to get together and “jam.” Pretty soon they were writing their own songs and playing various open mic nights around Chattanooga. Their first album was complete by May 2015, and was well received by friends, family, and strangers alike.
Magic Birds explains that they define their genre as Americana because “it is a very vague genre...and we like that.” However, they do add a few more qualifiers: “A lot of our songs have a classic country feel, some songs are bluegrass-inspired, a few of them have a folk or roots-rock sound, and every once in a while we break out a bluesy number.” To this listener, they sound like Johnny Cash and the Tallest Man on Earth ran off and joined the Soggy Bottom Boys. It’s the perfect soundtrack to accompany a night on the Hunter Museum terrace overlooking the river.
“If you have seen them play live,” their website states, “You realize that...they put all of their heart and soul into their music. If you haven’t seen them yet, you should.”