Brown Bird Benefit Show at Passim: Ian Fitzgerland Interview

For those of you who have not yet heard, Dave Lamb of the wonderful band Brown Bird was diagnosed with Leukemia around 6 months back. In what I consider to be one of the most beautiful displays of family and community, the surrounding fans of BBs music, fellow musicians, and total strangers pitched in what they could to help with the huge burden that the band would face through medical bills. While its been a rough road so far, both Dave and MorganEve check in with their friends and fans and have seemed very optimistic. There is still some rockiness ahead, but a few local musicians are continuing to try and help out these great people…I caught up with Ian Fitzgerald to talk about a benefit show he is organizing at Club Passim on January 6th to raise some additional funds for Dave.

1) Ian, you are hosting/organizing/playing in show to benefit Dave and MorganEve of brown bird. Give us the lowdown on the time, place, etc.

IF:  The show will be at Club Passim on Monday, January 6, 2014 at 8pm. We have 14 acts, each of whom will cover a song by Brown Bird. Tickets are only $15 and are on sale now.

2) So, I know there is a Providence/RI songwriter kind of connection between yourself and brown bird, but what else was a deciding factor in putting together this show?

IF: I went to my first Brown Bird show eight years ago in Northampton, and I’ve connected and reconnected and crossed paths with the band many times since. Primarily, I’m a fan: I admire their work and how they do that work. When I was growing up, it was not uncommon for the people in my community to raise funds for a person or a family who had encountered hard times, particularly when those hard times were a result of illness. We’re doing the same thing here in the music community. A number of benefit shows have been held already; this is my attempt to contribute.

3) There seems to be a great variety of musicians that are involved in this. Some that I would expect to see on a bill like this and others that I seemed somewhat surprised to see. How did you come up with this crew of people to pay tribute to our friends in brown bird and raise funds for this cause?

IF: I knew that because of the nature of the show, with each performer playing one song, that the lineup would naturally consist of New England musicians; fortunately, that dovetailed with the community aspect I had in mind. From there, I wanted some performers who are close to Dave and MorganEve and some who are fans who love and want to pay tribute to their music. For as important as the fundraising aspect is, I think it’s important for people to remember how great this band’s music is.

4) With so many great musicians in one place one has to assume there will be collaborations out the wazoo. Anything you can let the fine folks in on? Who would you like to see collaborate on a brown bird tune?

IF: Some of the performers have mentioned to me a few collaborations that are in the works. Folks will have to come out to the show, though, to find out who winds up on stage together.

5) Finally, sell us on why everyone should attend this gig…you know, aside from coming to watch you play brown bird tunes.

IF: Coming to watch me play would be the least of the reasons for people to attend. The lineup is full of musicians who are not only gracious enough to have agreed to be a part of this but who are wonderful performers. Those who don’t know everyone in the lineup are bound to walk away fans of someone new. And best of all, we’ll be raising money to help Dave and MorganEve get through until we can all go see them play a show again.

 More information at the links below, but you can catch all the following artists paying tribute and playing some of their favorite Brown Bird tunes on January 6th!