ebirdlove - ProfilesArchive

About Me

Check The Ragbirds MySpace for all of our upcoming shows.....
I am a poet and a songtress. . .
I write songs for my band The Ragbirds. They make everything more beautiful and together we strike up the dance floor. Here I chose selections that represent me in a more "solo" way, songs that are on our album, but we don't play live, as well as the original version of the song "good" just for fun.If you like these songs, check out more on our profile here or visit our site www.theragbirds.com .

Coming to see us play live is a whole different experience, and very high energy, so be sure to catch a show sometime.

I've had so many musical experiences that have shaped me, but finding my own voice, the sound that has truly been mine all along has been my greatest ongoing musical endeavor. I first wrote and played songs with Madison Greene (aggressive acoustic with celtic and tribal undertones). I branched out into Afro-Cuban drumming and vocalizing with Woodspeak. (4 skilled hand-drummers and me) I learned to improvise and experiment with genres in Rootstand (bluegrass, reggae, rock, blues) and have found my nest in The Ragbirds , (we call it infectious global groove). All of my bandmates, past and present have influenced my life and music like iron sharpens iron and I love them all.
The stage is a whore. At times I crave its lights and tangled cords. Here I sing a poem into the common air and hope it does not tangle itself up in the heights of American hype. Let's keep the lowliness of true songs alive. Songs have a way of catching fire and before you know you are a charred mess of ego. I'm in for the slow burn, and I hold the hope of not losing myself in the smoke and mirrors.
I have so many poems that never find music. I'll print a few here and there in blogs, while I work on printing a full collection, which will be available soon, here and at Ragbirds shows. I'd love to hear both critique and praise, it's all food for the journey.
We all work so hard just to try to mean something. We reach out in the dark of cyberspace to try to connect. We open the doors to the little spaces we call our own and invite our friends. What we show is not always who we are, but I hope you may find me here, in myspace, in my music, and find something that you can feel.
peace to you
love,
e
(note: all songs and poems posted are written and copyrighted by Erin Zindle)
..
photos from our wedding

09-22-06
Erin Zindle & Randall Moore photos by Julie Parrish (www.jcparrish.com)

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 3/12/2006
Band Website: www.theragbirds.com " theragbirds.com
Band Members: erin zindle (songwriter) singing, and on these recorded songs playing violin, mandolin, percussion and piano. I also play accordion, banjo, tin whistle, erhu, and djembe with The Ragbirds.

note: Low Flying - Todd Perkins joined me on bass, Rich Blatt on guitar and Mark Porter on drums.

Good - (original recording performed by Woodspeak: Jason Beck on berimbau and vocals, our dearly departed friend, Nelson Whitehorse on congas and vocals, Randall Moore on dununs and vocals, Niki Piotrowski on percussion and vocals, and Mark Porter on bass)

The Ragbirds are Randall Moore (my husband), Matthew Melody, Tim Dziekan, Dan Hildebrandt, and me. All of these songs (in one version or another) can be found on The Ragbirds recordings:
(2005) Yes Nearby

(2007) Wanderlove
(to be released June 21st, 2007)

Influences: Like any musician, I have many influences, but I strive to be my own. Paul Simon (he's my favorite!), Rusted Root, and Grateful Dead (especially Mickey Hart's Planet Drum) were like gateways for me into the wider world of music, foreign and familiar, ancient and yet somehow fresh.

Mad Sheer Khan, U2, Ani DiFranco, Bob Dylan, Indigo Girls, REM, Ali Farka Toure, Nickel Creek - Ireland, Africa, South America, Gypsy songs from all four directions. . . . . Rumi, Hafiz, Rilke, songs are poems after all. . .

my accordion, photo courtesy of Rich Blatt
Sounds Like: A girl singing with instruments.
Type of Label: None

My Blog

Years ago now - an interview with me. . .

"No, but She Feels Yes Nearby" The Ragbirds' Erin Zindle talks with Josh about her band's enchanting first album By Josh Hurst, 9/8/05 Josh: List...
Posted by ebirdlove on Sun, 04 Nov 2007 10:23:00 PST

The Artist’s Way

There is a book I've been venturing down - it's called The Artist's Way (A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity) by Julia Cameron. It's one of those books that I have heard about and been recomme...
Posted by ebirdlove on Tue, 30 Oct 2007 10:06:00 PST

song of the feminine

As a child I remember Queen Anne's Lace and milk weed, thistle and clover,Brushing the grass with a hair brush and the sand box feeling like silk.The song of the feminine on the breeze and me,lucky en...
Posted by ebirdlove on Tue, 31 Jul 2007 09:37:00 PST

someone had to write a song. . . (for Lisa)

It took me this long to even say a wordBut someone had to write a song about that girlShe was gone in a gunshot, buried in the blink of a breathThe world might have killed her, but it hasn't gotten ov...
Posted by ebirdlove on Fri, 30 Mar 2007 08:20:00 PST

The bow is my breath

While the war rages on, I have been in the bomb-shelter of a basement recording studio called "Good Noise", wrestling notes out of thin air to tune them, shape them and pin them down forever. It...
Posted by ebirdlove on Tue, 20 Mar 2007 08:33:00 PST

it seems ages. . .

It seems ages since I felt myself feeling.Every day I react to the day.It seems years since I've poured my daily confessions into an awaiting book - I wrote this tiny poem a year ago at le...
Posted by ebirdlove on Sat, 03 Feb 2007 01:32:00 PST

honeymoon

We traced the curves of West Virginiaturning and turningforwardleaving miles of dirt behind us.Clean white churchesin the cleavageof colored hills -like billboardsof private salvation. We followed th...
Posted by ebirdlove on Sun, 22 Oct 2006 05:58:00 PST

"sung"

sungI am drinking that mirror-waterwhich is found in the lowest space between mountainswhere all height and depthis visible within.I see myself in this clear substance reflected.I am the mud and stone...
Posted by ebirdlove on Sun, 04 Jun 2006 01:08:00 PST

everything all at once. . .

It has always been like this for me. . . A week after my close friend died, Randall proposed. . . joy and sadness together inside. . . The Ragbirds are moving so fast, booked solid through the summer ...
Posted by ebirdlove on Sun, 04 Jun 2006 01:01:00 PST

She said 'yes'. . .

Zanzibar - Richly printed tapestries of Indian and African designs wrapped the ceiling in alluring folds high above where we sat amongst foliage and exotic flowers, bathed in bright white window-light...
Posted by ebirdlove on Wed, 19 Apr 2006 09:12:00 PST