Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds

Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds is a Brooklyn, New York-based eight-piece Funk/Soul band. The band is led by singer Arleigh Kincheloe, with Jackson Kincheloe on harmonica, Bram Kincheloe on drums, Josh Myers on bass, Sasha Brown on guitar, Ryan Snow on trombone, Phil Rodriguez on trumpet, and Brian Graham on baritone saxophone.   The band has earned a reputation as a true road-warrior. Since they started touring in 2011, Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds has played 150 shows each year all across the US (45 states so far) and Canada. Their list of festival appearances includes Bonnaroo, Firefly, Mountain Jam, Voodoo Experience, Equifunk, Bear Creek, Gathering of the Vibes, moe.down, Telluride Jazz, Harvest Jazz Festival (Fredericton, Canada), Clearwater Jazz Holiday, and late night sets at Austin City Limits and the Jazz& Heritage Festival in New Orleans. They’ve also shared the stage with Donald Fagen (Steely Dan) and Warren Haynes at a Midnight Ramble at Levon Helm’s Studio, played with Gov’t Mule at the Beacon Theatre in New York, and opened for a long list of acts like The Avett Brothers, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, Dr. John, Fitz and the Tantrums, Counting Crows, JJ Grey and Mofro, moe., Soulive, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Allen Stone, and the Funky Meters.   History   The band's journey is steeped in family and lifelong friendships. Dynamic singer and front-woman Sister Sparrow first began penning tunes in the alleyways and back roads between New York City and the Catskill Mountains as a teenager. Though already aided and abetted by her harmonica-shredding brother Jackson, it was clear to her that a large, powerful band was needed to do justice to the songs she was crafting. The brother and sister team called upon their cousin Bram, a California-bred drummer of considerable prowess, to help them assemble a super-band of epic proportions. Bram brought in childhood friends J.J. Byars (alto saxophone) and Ryan Snow (trombone), and Ryan called upon baritone saxophonist and close friend Johnny Butler. The trumpet chair changed hands until March 2011, when the addition of trumpeter Phil Rodriguez solidified the unstoppable force of the virtuosic Dirty Birds' horns. The rhythm section was filled out by guitarist Sasha Brown and bassist Aidan Carroll, a thundering tandem that proved to be the perfect engineers of the hard-driving, bare-knuckle grooves that propel this ferocious group.   The band first got together in September 2008. It was evident from the start that the deep connections among its members translated directly to the music they made together. While Sister Sparrow is the principal songwriter and unifying voice of the band, the entire band has always worked collaboratively on arrangements. The result is musical creativity and diversity seldom seen in groups of this size and character.   By the middle of 2009, Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds had a hugely popular weekly show New York's Rockwood Music Hall every Saturday night, holding down a five-month-long residency that built them a reputation for being one of the funkiest, tightest groups in the city. With the strength of their live show in mind, the band recorded its debut album (released in November 2010) at a single single twelve hour session at New York's famed Avatar Studios.   When the band embarked on their first tour at the end of April 2011, they set out with the mission of taking the country by storm. By the end of the year, they had driven over 50,000 miles to play 150 shows in 28 states. They exploded onto the scene, opening for Dr. John, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, and the Soul Rebels Brass Band, and appeared at such festivals as Gathering of the Vibes, Bear Creek, and late night at Jazz Fest in New Orleans.   Recordings   Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds (2010) Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds released its self-titled debut album in November 2010. It was recorded almost completely live in just one night at Avatar Studios in New York City, capturing the uniquely tight-yet-loose live sound they had honed over so many hot city nights. The album was listed as one of the top Non-Jazz Favorites for 2010 by All About Jazz. Independent Media Magazine awarded it the "Best album you probably didn't hear in 2010" in its 2010 IMM Music Awards.   Pound of Dirt (2012) On February 28 they released their second album Pound of Dirt. After many thousands of miles, breakdowns, and missed shows, the band needed a new van for touring in 2012. They launched a Kickstarter campaign to purchase a new van and surpassed their $20,000 goal with $21,025 raised.   Fight EP (2013) In March 2013, the band went into the legendary Henson Recording Studios in LA and recorded an EP with Grammy-award winner and former American Idol judge Randy Jackson. The resulting four song EP was recorded in a day and half and later released in October of the same year.   Band Members   Sister Sparrow, also known as Arleigh Kincheloe, is the "big-voiced" frontwoman of the Dirty Birds. She was born and raised in the Catskill Mountains of New York, where she began singing in her parents' band at the age of nine. Already a seasoned stage performer by 18, Sister Sparrow began writing myriad songs of her own, which would later see the light of day though inaugural interpretations by Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds.   Jackson Kincheloe was raised in upstate New York by musician parents. Starting on trumpet and drums in grade school, moving to tuba and guitar in high school, he eventually stuck with the harmonica and joined his sister Arleigh.   Bram Kincheloe, born in San Francisco, took his first drum lesson at the age of five and was playing professionally by the age of eight. Before helping his cousins Arleigh and Jackson Kincheloe start Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds, he toured and recorded extensively as a jazz drummer, sharing the stage along the way with Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove and Lee Konitz, among others. Bram moved to NYC on his own at the age of 16 to pursue music and subsequently entered the Manhattan School of Music on scholarship at the age of 17. As a child in California, he was the youngest student ever accepted to study with the famous Chuck Brown, who also taught such luminary drummers as Terry Bozzio and Dave Garibaldi. Besides music, he is an avid writer. He writes the group's tour blog . Currently he is working on his debut novel.   Sasha Brown, the band's guitar player, was born in New York City, New York and raised in the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. He is a graduate of Berklee College of Music, where in his first year he received the Jimi Hendrix Award, the school's highest honor for guitarists. Brown is also a member of Heather Christian and the Arbornauts, Sunny Kim's Myth of Mitch, and has performed and recorded with Krystal Warren and the Faculty, the Andrew D'Angelo Big Band, and others.   Bassist Josh Myers was born outside of Boston Massachusetts and lives in Brooklyn New York. He has been a part of more than 30 projects, has appeared on more than 20 recordings, and has written countless songs. Aside from hitting America hard with the Dirty Birds, his open ears and big earthy bass tone have sent him around the world to Europe, the Middle East, Egypt, Australia and Hong Kong. He has played alongside such jazz greats as John Scofield, Kenny Werner, Ralph Alessi and Wayne Krantz. In the US, he has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, New York's Blue Note Jazz Club, and the Library of Congress. You can see him bringing new meaning to low end at shows with Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds, Heather Christian and the Arbornauts, and Kinan Azmeh’s Cityband.   Baritone Saxophonist Brian Graham was born in NYC, raised in Bennington, VT and studied Jazz Performance at The University of Southern Maine. In addition to working with the Dirty Birds, he is a co-leader of The Fogcutters, a 19-piece Big Band based in Portland, Maine, a member of the seven piece funk band Sly-Chi, and co-creater of Big Band Syndrome. He has shared the stage with John Popper(Blues Traveler), Chris Barron(Spin Doctors), The Soul Rebels Brass Band, and Big Sam's Funky Nation. Besides performing, Brian is an accomplished arranger and teacher.   Ryan Snow is a trombonist, improviser and composer living in Brooklyn, New York. Born and raised in Stanford, California, Ryan got his start playing in local and regional jazz bands before studying at Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio. Upon graduating in 2005, he moved to New York City to continue his musical explorations. In addition to performing with Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds, Ryan leads his own experimental electric free-rock band Pull, and performs in numerous other projects including instrumental dub band Super Hi-Fi, improvising chamber ensemble Scavenger Quartet, Johnny Butler's Scurvy, and The Andrew D'Angelo Big Band. Ryan is also an accomplished whistler.   Trumpeter Phil Rodriguez was born and raised in Santa Barbara, California, where he began studying piano at age five and trumpet at age twelve. He holds a degree in jazz studies from the University of Southern California. He is currently based in Brooklyn, where he is active as a freelance performer, composer and teacher. In addition to his work with Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds, he performs regularly with jazz-rockers East West Quintet, neo-soul band The Hipstones, and punk-improv quartet The (Notorious) L.A. Music Scene. He has recorded with Hercules and Love Affair, Jessica 6, Wires Under Tension, Industrial Jazz Group, Eleanor Friedberger of The Fiery Furnaces, Jenny Owen Youngs and Jinsai. Phil also leads and composes for his own ensemble, a six-piece slowcore post-jazz group called Underbelly.   In early 2013, the band announced that three original members, JJ Byars, Johnny Butler, and Aidan Carroll, were leaving to pursue other projects. The band also announced the additions of baritone saxophonist Brian Graham and bassist Josh Myers.