Band brings blend of harmony and silliness to CU
Picture this: three young harmonizing female singers and a back-up band, all with smiles to boot.
The three singers of Paper Bird – Sarah Anderson, 21, Genevieve Patterson, 19, and Esme Patterson, 21 — are the soul of the local Boulder folk/bluegrass band. They provide not only the melody, but their voices often unify to create one strong sound. They harmonize and sing in canon to whatever song they choose, performing originals and creative cover tunes.
“We do a lot of harmony,” Patterson said. “Some people have said we sound like the 1940s band The Andrews Sisters, so that is pretty cool.”
Tyler Archuletta plays trombone and Caleb Summeril plays banjo and harmonica. Paul DeHaven on guitar rounds out the rest of the band. The instruments give the band a bluegrass sound.
All six band members live together, so they all contribute to a harmonic and wildly creative songwriting process, Patterson said.
Patterson said they are a group of good friends who love music and each other.
“We just love having fun and being silly,” Patterson said.
The music is more than any one genre and the band prefers it that way. While others associate the group with modern folk and bluegrass music, Paper Bird is simply original, DeHaven said.
“We get inspiration from each other and our friends,” DeHaven said. “Our friends Laura Goldhammer and Ian Cook are amazing musicians.”
Paper Bird officially began in August 2006 as the group White Tiger. Patterson said the name White Tiger was a joke and a reflection of their stellar sense of humor.
“We first got together at Caleb’s uncle’s cabin in Breckenridge, where we all started playing music,” Patterson said, “All the sudden we had four songs and we played them on a street corner that night.”
Within a month, Patterson said the group of musicians had seven demo songs ready to roll.
In May 2007, Paper Bird recorded their first album entitled, “Anything Nameless and Joymaking.”
“If you were to listen to one song off of our album, listen to ‘Sacrifice,'” Patterson said.
The six members recently moved to Boulder, where they are excited to play at Cafe Babu on Oct. 26 and at Old Main on Nov. 3.
With a 15-song album under their belt, the band has hopes of more touring, recording and adventure, Archuletta said.
“The best part of the band is just playing music together,” Archuletta said.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Emily Sturges at emily.sturges@colorado.edu.
