season sponsor
10% of
the Events Barn ticket proceeds
after expenses will go to benefit Island.
institute for sustainable living, art & natural
design
Sunday August 16th at 7 PM
Ticket Information
BREATHE OWL BREATHE
Breathe Owl Breathe
sing of folklore and homespun miracles, oral histories left
to thaw in the earth's crust until pre-history's giant ice
cubes rolled their wet bulk down the North Pole and into
Canada, finally settling into extinction in what we now
call the Great Lakes. It's from the shores of these bodies
that Breathe Owl Breathe come (Ann Arbor, Michigan, to be
precise). These are songs about being left behind, songs
about being dead, songs without geography, songs worth
repeating... The music is very economical — guitar,
cello, drums, piano, other organic sounds — and the
vocals float between folk and country, a very earnest
mood... The marriage of their music and lyrics is the sort
of chance meeting that becomes a 60th anniversary in a
blink. Middaugh, Moreno-Beals and drummer Trevor Hobbs are
easy and fluid with one another, enabling their songs to
(deceptively) feel more like happy accidents than serious,
premeditated songwriting. That's where their charm lies.
Whether or not you're listening hardly matters: this music
has always existed, and always will.
- Yancey Strickler, reviewing Ghost Glacier
EP
Comprised of Micah
Middaugh (guitar, vocals), Andréa Moreno-Beals (cello,
vocals) and Trevor Hobbs (percussion), the Michigan trio
Breathe Owl Breathe have a knack for wrapping universal
emotions in childlike language. In the gorgeous, loping
"Playing Dead," from their eMusic Selects EP, Ghost
Glacier, a playground game slowly develops into a metaphor
for longing and loneliness; "Sabertooth Tiger" is
simultaneously about imaginary friends and the desire for
protection. The band's music is terrifically disarming,
Middaugh's cracked tenor ambling over acoustic guitars,
Moreano-Beals cello swooping in gracefully, like a warm
breeze or a host of doves. It's the soundtrack to the
Brothers Grimm, a lively stroll through the enchanted
forest.
- J. Edward Keyes, eMusic
As Breathe Owl
Breathe, Michigan trio Micah Middaugh, Andréa Moreno-Beals
and Trevor Hobbs sound as intimately familiar with woods
and wild as their band name suggests, but there's an air of
cosmopolitan sophistication, too. Their forest-paced,
guitar-and cello-grounded "Playing Dead" has the careful,
modern approach to folk production of rustic post-rock
ensemble Califone, and Middaugh's weary vocal also braves
Palace Brothers' Southern haints. "I got you, didn't I,"
Middaugh repeats in harmony with Moreno-Beals, as cymbals
splash across some delicate acoustic plucking. The verses
reflect nostalgically on playing dead as a child by the
swing set, so this chorus comes to tell everyone they're
just fooling. At the same time, the joke may be getting
played on us, too: "When I was alive..." Middaugh begins
one line. What, is he dead? Still, like North Carolina's
similarly verdant Bowerbirds, Breathe Owl Breathe keep
their lyrics earnest and un-showy ("Your hair is gray...the
light is black") and then bask in organic splendor. They
got me, didn't they?
- Pitchfork Forkcast Review For "Playing Dead"
Breathe Owl Breathe
makes music of honest curiosity: Music that confounds a
listener with its relentless humility, while somehow
entrancing an audience with its loveliness at the same
time. The interweaving strings of melody from Andrea
Moreno-Beals' cello and Micah Middaugh's acoustic guitar
always reveal a story to be told. It's only when the two of
them begin to sing that the story becomes clearer. All the
while, the audience can't help but clap, sing and laugh
along.
- Derek Barber, The Michigan Daily
BREATHE OWL BREATHE HAS CULTIVATED A MUSICAL LANDSCAPE THAT
IS AT ONCE PLAYFUL AND REVERENT, SILLY AND HEARTFELT,
MYSTERIOUS AND FAMILIAR.
PRESS
QUOTES
“An earthy
Michigan duo with roots in indie, classical and traditional
music, Breathe Owl Breathe has cultivated a musical
landscape that is at once playful and reverent, silly and
heartfelt, mysterious and familiar. Micah Middaugh and
Andrea Moreno-Beals experiment with an array of stringed
instruments (most notably the cello and guitar) and vocal
harmonies to texture their original songs. They were raised
by rivers and gardens and their instruments tell the tales.
They traveled to cities and islands and their voices tell
the tales. They are here for you, Breathe Owl
Breathe.” -Seth
Bernard
“At last, some music in the folk tradition that is
new and refreshing, something an old music critic like me
is always looking to find. It’s what keeps me going.
I heard this delightful duo at the Bioneers environmental
conference in Traverse City and was knocked out. The
combination of cello with guitar, banjo, and voices is just
about perfect. The all-original tunes are subtle, have real
class, and just a just touch of humor.”
- Michael Erlewine, Founder of the All-Music Guide
(allmusic.com)