We just realized that the best pre-order deal we are offering for our new album, The Clearing, is probably this Three Album Magical Bundle.  For the price of two vinyls, $31.99, you get all three of our albums on vinyl (Hymns for a Dark Horse, Upper Air, and The Clearing), and The Clearing comes on limited edition white vinyl. 

You also get a poster featuring the beautiful album artwork by Monica Canilao, and you get an early gratification download code, which lets you download the album digitally on February 21st, two weeks before the March 6 release date.

So if you were already yearning to listen to our albums with the warm sound of the needle crinkling in the background, this is the perfect way to do it.

We just-announced pre-order for our new album, The Clearing, and we have a new mini-documentary!

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PRE-ORDER OPTIONS:
We have several options for pre-ordering the new album.  If you want to be one of the few who get a limited-edition white vinyl, before they’re gone, you can get those here.  While you’re there, you can also pick up some special bundles, with posters & our other albums.

If you want to pre-order the album with a limited-edition The Clearing tee shirt, as well as the option to bundle with other albums & posters, then go here.  (This shop does not have the white vinyl, but does have the shirts!)

»>——  All pre-orders come with an early download of the album, supplied February 21st, two weeks before our March 6th release date!  ——-»

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NEW MOVIE:

We also have a new video, a short documentary made by filmmakers who came out and spent time with us, talking about the story behind our record, the cabin we are building, and our lives in the country.  See it here!

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And tickets are selling for our upcoming tour dates.  Get yours now! 

You can also follow us: on   Facebook,   Twitter,   Last.fm  &   our website.

Upcoming tour dates:
Links to buy tickets to all shows available here.

03/17/12 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
03/18/12 Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle w/ Mandolin Orange
03/19/12 Charlottesville, VA – The Southern w/ Dry the River
03/21/12 Washington, DC – Black Cat w/ Dry the River
03/22/12 Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s w/ Dry the River
03/23/12 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom w/ Dry the River
03/24/12 Boston, MA – Paradise w/ Dry the River
03/26/12 Montreal, QC – La Sala Rossa w/ Dry the River
03/27/12 Toronto, ON – The Garrison w/ Dry the River
03/29/12 Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall w/ Dry the River
03/30/12 Iowa City, IA – Mission Creek Festival @ The Mill w/ Sharon Van Etten
03/31/12 Minneapolis, MN – Cedar Cultural Center w/ Dry the River
04/03/12 Seattle, WA – The Crocodile w/ Dry the River
04/04/12 Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge w/ Dry the River
04/06/12 San Francisco, CA – The Independent w/ Dry the River
04/07/12 Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour w/ Dry the River
04/08/12 San Diego, CA – Casbah w/ Dry the River
04/11/12 Austin, TX – The Parish w/ Dry the River
04/12/12 Dallas, TX – The Loft w/ Dry the River
04/14/12 Birmingham, AL – The Bottletree w/ Mandolin Orange
04/15/12 Atlanta, GA – The Earl w/ Mandolin Orange
04/20/12 Rotterdam, NL – Motel Mozaique Festival
04/22/12 Copenhagen, DK – Vega
04/23/12 Stockholm, SE – Debaser Slussen
04/24/12 Goteborg, SE – Pusterviksbaren
04/25/12 Hamburg, DE – Uebel & Gefahrlich
04/26/12 Berlin, DE – Lido
04/27/12 Munich, DE – Feierwerk
04/28/12 Zurich, CH – El Lokal
04/30/12 Paris, FR – Cafe De La Danse
05/01/12 Antwerp, BE – Trix
05/03/12 Leeds, UK – Brudenell Social Club
05/04/12 Manchester, UK – Deaf Institute
05/05/12 Brighton, UK – The Haunt
05/07/12 London, UK – Cargo
05/08/12 Brussels, BE – Ancienne Belgique
05/09/12 Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso

Links to buy tickets to all shows available here.

We can’t wait to see your beautiful faces when we get back out on tour.

Love,
Beth, Phil, Mark, Yan, and Leah

We are at the beach today, and have been for a week and a half, on an island, no less.  It’s a luxury we are very grateful to be able to take advantage of. 

The full moon last night has brought with it extremely low and high tides, and because it is close to the solstice still, the moon has been directly overhead around midnight.  It’s heartbreakingly gorgeous, and so bright at night you can see full colors on the sand, sea, houses and dunes. 

Today at very low tide, we walked a few miles along the beach.  The porpoises we’d been seeing fishing for mullet in the waves for days were today very close to the shore, at times within five feet - close enough that even our dogs noticed them and ran into the water after them.

Each porpoise had a very unique fin shape, making it easy to tell them apart.  Two, one with a hooked fin that we named Huck Finn, and one with a bumpy fin, were hunting side by side the whole time, swimming back and forth in the shallows.  We were able to see their whole bodies, and they were beautiful.

Porpoises just started coming back into the San Francisco Bay area, after a prolonged 60 year absence, apparently due to cleaner waters as of late.  You can read about that here.

Our North Carolina porpoise friends are under threat right now, from a Titan Cement factory that the local people here have been fighting for years.  The company, Titan Cement, is being pretty evil, like certain other multi-national corporations that threaten and intimidate people who question their right to destroy their local ecosystem. 

You can click the link at the bottom of this page that says, “This Belongs on CNN,” to encourage CNN to cover the story.  This link tells more of the cement factory’s threat of dumping major toxins into the Cape Fear River in the Wilmington area.  Click those links to help keep our porpoise friends safe and free to live where nature intended.

Photo by D.L. Anderson (dlanderson.com)

New album!  March 6th.  We’ll be touring that album, and we’ve made one song available to listen to now. 

»————-|>     New Album

Our newest collection of songs, called The Clearing, has been more than a year in the making.   We put more love into this album than anything else we’ve ever recorded, and we can’t wait for you to hear it.

There’s so much more to tell you, but for now, you can take a glimpse into the album by listening to one of the songs, Tuck the Darkness In, and a look at the beautiful album art by Monica Canilao, over at Pitchfork.

»————-|>     North American Spring Tour 

Come see us when we swing through your neck of the woods this Spring. 

03/17/12 Sat Carborro NC Cat’s Cradle (tix)
03/21/12 Wed Washington DC Black Cat (tix) 03/22/12 Thu Philadelphia PA Johnny Brenda’s (tix)
03/23/12 Fri New York NY Bowery Ballroom (tix) 03/24/12 Sat Boston MA Paradise (tix) 03/26/12 Mon Montreal QC La Sala Rossa (tix)
03/27/12 Tue Toronto ON The Garrison (tix)
03/29/12 Thu Chicago IL Lincoln Hall (tix)
03/31/12 Sat Minneapolis MN Cedar Cultural Centre (tix)
04/03/12 Tue Seattle WA The Crocodile (tix)
04/04/12 Wed Portland OR Doug Fir (two shows) (tix)
04/06/12 Fri San Francisco CA Independent (tix)
04/07/12 Sat Los Angeles CA Troubadour (tix)
04/08/12 Sun San Diego CA Casbah (tix)
04/11/12 Wed Austin TX The Parish (tix)
04/12/12 Thu Dallas TX The Loft (tix)
04/14/12 Sat Birmingham AL Bottletree (tix)
04/15/12 Sun Atlanta GA The EARL (tix)

Click links above to buy tickets now.

Follow us: onFacebook,   Twitter,   &  our website.

 Sign up for our email list for all important news.

Here is the new mini-documentary about the Bowerbirds and our new album, The Clearing.  Filmmakers came to our land and spent time with us, and talked to us about the story behind the album.

Overcome with light. 

You can read a new in-depth interview with Phil from Bowerbirds, all about the making of The Clearing, our lives and inspirations, on Folk Radio UK, right here. 

About the cover art for new Bowerbirds album, The Clearing, made by Monica Canilao

We first discovered the artwork of the incredibly talented and prolific Oakland artist, Monica Canilao, when she put on a collaborative art exhibition and installation with graffiti artist, Swoon, in March of 2008, at the Luggage Store Gallery in NYC. 

The installation was completely breathtaking, and it led us to her portfolio website, where we found a trove of gorgeous paintings, drawings and mixed-media works. We visited her studio when we came through the Bay Area on tour, and Beth commissioned her to sew her a bonnet/headdress, and to construct her a one of a kind dress.  We bought her now-sold-out art book, and we wished we could have bought everything else she’s ever made.

We’d happily live in an entire world created by her, if we could.  You may actually recognize her from the Juxtapoz magazine feature they did on artists taking over and renovating crumbling houses in Detroit.  Since we are building our own home, and can’t really go also live in that beautiful house with her, the next best thing was to house our new songs inside some of her artwork.

Go check out some of what Monica Canilao can do, at:
monicacanilao.com

Monica also has a new tumblr blog you can follow here: strandedsaved.tumblr.com/

She also has a flickr:  flickr.com/photos/wewillallbewell/

If you are in the Bay Area right now, check out her collaborative installation up now at Lopo Gallery with Bunnie Reiss.  If you’re in Missouri, you can see the Regency Hotel that she and a bunch of other artists are taking over and transforming, before its demise at the hands of wrecking balls.

Monica Canilao is a mind-blowing artist and a very magical woman.

#monicacanilao #monica+canilao #art

We were here at the studio when Nicolas got a new skylight in.  The old fashion kind!  It works great for playing Pirates.

#psnicolasvernhesisamastermind  #andskylightsaremagic