This is the story of Beth Tacular and Phil Moore.
As founding members of the Triangle band the Bowerbirds, the duo has mastered their craft of delicate, captivating folk songs that make the heart swell. But between a few exhausting years of touring, a slew of ailments and an unsettling break in their relationship, the duo's future became uncertain. Although it seemed to be an insurmountable feat, after a year apart and a lot of thinking, they've since emerged with The Clearing, an album that encapsulates their rebirth as a band and a couple.
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Tucking the darkness in“For me, I didn't believe I would ever be able to fall out of love and back in love with someone,” Tacular said in a recent documentary. “That was really amazing, just believing again in things, you know.”
Despite the “disaster chapter” that proceeded the making of The Clearing, Tacular and Moore used their challenging experiences to help shape the themes on the new album. With this release, the band emphasized the importance of living in the everyday beauty and not taking so much for granted, including the ability to make music. As they sat closely together at the Chatham Marketplace in Pittsboro during our recent interview, it was evident that they are currently relishing in these newfound revelations while they move forward into the next chapter.
“I guess there are a lot of themes of impermanence, death, and enjoying the moment while you can, appreciating things that are around you,” Tacular said of the album's themes. “Also just joy in the things you do in life and taking joy in the things that are wonderful about your life.”
In addition, the couple's dogs, Olive and Spice, provided unique inspiration for the album. Spice came to be a part of their life following an accident resulting in a broken pelvis, and the duo decided to take care of her. For Tacular and Moore, Spice's positivity and loving nature was truly inspirational when the couple's life was particularly unsettled. And with Olive, it's her restless personality that became an important reminder for the couple to slow down, especially when life got overwhelming.
“I've had Olive for 11 years and she is a total sweetheart, but very anxious,” Tacular said. “It's actually perfect because a lot of the album is us talking to ourselves, telling ourselves, 'Don't be anxious, don't miss all the beauty, focus and calm yourself down.' We are singing these sorts of things to ourselves and trying to share those ideas with other people.”
For the cover art, Tacular wanted it to reflect these same themes. She turned to the help of artist Monica Canilao, whom she discovered during her break from Moore.
"The band come through and visited my studio, where I in turn dressed them up in assorted costumes and headdresses I had made," said Canilao. "Beth has been super supportive and we have kept in contact about music and projects since our first exchange."
Canilao is based out of Oakland, CA and creates a variety of art ranging from drawings and paintings to mixed media work that utilizes natural objects.
"I have been working on a series of portraits that consist of found remnants, lace, wood, and various materials which I have been picking up for years on my travels," she said. "They symbolize the secret lives of forgotten people, of exploration, memory and journey, much the same as Bowerbirds I think is trying to move through in their music."
“What she does with visual art is so amazing to me, her colors and really awesome use of found objects that she combines in original ways,” Tacular said. “Her attitude on life is about making do with what you have.”
The piece that is printed on the album's cover features adornments of lace doilies mixed with animal bones, choices that Tacular said “are really visually representative of how we wanted these songs to sound.”
“In our songs, we were trying to honor that and those feelings we have about nature,” she said. “I think she (Monica) is doing a similar thing.”
This year, the new Bowerbirds
Beginning in spring 2011, The Clearing was recorded partly in a North Carolina cabin and partly at Bon Iver's Wisconsin studio. The plan was for the duo to finish the 11-song album during a 10-day stint in Wisconsin. When they weren't able to finish it in that time frame, they returned home to record the vocals, with the aid of a few microphones and a quiet log cabin.
“The demos we recorded before that were a little more simple and we had all this extra time to layer ideas and take stuff away as well, kind of figure out what each song needed,” Moore said.
These musical choices led to an album that is well-composed and full of layers. For Grayson Currin, music editor at the Independent Weekly, The Clearing “is a bigger record, then, with bolder sounds and a broader scope. "Tuck The Darkness In" surges in its final two minutes with a wall of electric guitars and drums. "Hush" plays hide and seek with restless vibraphones, pianos and drums, Beth's voice again providing a core of resilience in an otherwise ominous atmosphere.”
The Bowerbirds have struck a balance between the delicate and emotionally intense, all while remaining true to its sound. According to Moore, the key with this album was drawing the production process out longer.
“Our first record was like that and our second record was similarly done, in a very fast way,” Moore said. “We didn't really have as much time to sit around and think of all the little details, which I think is really nice.”
It's evident that the Bowerbirds have under gone a lot of personal growth since 2009's Upper Air. While the band's sound remains familiarly its own, in many ways, it is bigger and more mature. With the extended time to produce this album, both Tacular and Moore agreed that it allowed them to experiment more.
“On the previous albums, we had a set palette of instruments that we were working with and that was very intentional,” Moore said. “On this latest record, we just forwent that entirely and decided to use all the tools, all the instruments, all the effects and everything that we possibly could and still make Bowerbirds records. We really wanted to add some more textures and I think that is really the main difference.”
For Bowerbirds fans, it's these intricately-layered songs and thoughtful lyrics that affect them the most.
“It's transcendent, their sound is transcendent,” said Evangeline Mee, a UNC student and Bowerbirds fan. “It elevates you to a different time and place. It takes you away to the story world they are singing about, while at the same time it's about finding beauty in things of everyday life.”
And for Tacular and Moore, returning to everyday beauty through nature is exactly what they intended to do. In addition to making music, the couple has been building a log cabin in the woods of Pittsboro, a project they have worked on since 2007. Following a period in the wilderness of South Carolina, the couple decided they needed to permanently move somewhere more natural. Next, they bought an Airstream trailer and made themselves at home while beginning the log cabin in the woods.
“It really helps us to be in a quiet place with nature around when we are writing instead of being with the distractions of the city, the parties every night and the noise,” Tacular said. “It also silences all the other voices and helps you be more original and not think about what everyone else is doing in the world right now, for us anyway.”
The cabin's progress has been put on hold, due to the making and release of the new album, but it's a project the couple plans to go back to between tours. And although they appreciate the quiet of the woods, after a two-year break from touring, the band is excited to take a break from the simpler life and get back to the road.
“It's just like the ebb and flow,” Moore said. “When we haven't toured in a long time, we are really excited to get back out. The momentum of that excitement gives you enough momentum to get back out there.”
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Bright futureAfter months in the making, The Clearing, will be officially released Mar. 6 on Dead Oceans. On Mar. 17, the Bowerbirds will kick off their U.S. tour at the Cat's Cradle, with local bluegrass/folk duo Mandolin Orange opening the show. For Bowerbirds fans, this show will be one of the first to feature a five-member line-up on stage. Although Tacular and Moore will be aided by a few more hands and several more instruments, the show still promises to be a showcase of the band's enduring collection of folk songs.
Mee, who plans to attend the show at the Cradle, recalls how magical her first experience with the band was in 2009.
“When I saw the Bowerbirds for the first time in Gerrard Hall, I really didn't know anything about them,” Mee said. “But it took one song and I was totally there. Their instruments filled the room and I remember specifically Beth's accordion just electrifying the space.”
With a beautiful new album and a lively return to the stage pending, there's no doubt that Tacular and Moore will electrify and renew the Triangle once again. Because after a few years of growth and introspection – musically and personally – they've shown us that often it's the important things in life that really take some time, and that while you're waiting, you should remember to celebrate your surroundings as best you can.
Bowerbirds' The Clearing will be available on Mar. 6 via Dead Oceans. Bowerbirds play the Cat's Cradle on Mar. 17 at 9:30 pm with Mandolin Orange. Tickets are $12 in advance and $14 day of show.
