The Mynabirds Issue #42

Laura Burhenn flies solo with new project

By Kelley Hecker
Published: July 1st, 2010 | 7:00am

Though Washington, D.C.-based indie rock band Georgie James put Laura Burhenn on the national radar, she's been playing music nearly her entire life. "My mom always says I could sing before I could speak. Maybe it sounds cliché, but she swears it's true," she says with a laugh.

After Georgie James' dissolution in 2008, Burhenn decided it was time for a change. So at the insistence of her friend, singer-songwriter Orenda Fink, Burhenn packed her bags and headed to Omaha where she worked with Saddle Creek Records to finish the debut of her new band, the Mynabirds.

Out April 27, What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood was conceived with producer Richard Swift, to whom Burhenn told, "I want to make a record that sounds like Neil Young doing Motown." (Later, she discovered Young had briefly been in a Motown band with Rick James called the Mynah Birds.) The album is a gorgeous, soulful pop record reminiscent of '60s a.m. radio—and feels just as at home alongside Dusty Springfield as it does contemporaries Cat Power and She & Him.

"I feel like I've finally found my voice with the Mynabirds. I can't wait to get in the studio and make the next record." With a laugh, she adds, "The first one hasn't even come out yet!"

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The Mynabirds official site

The Mynabirds MySpace page

Saddle Creek Records