Humbird

Songs, at their best, reflect something of where we are, where we've been, or where it is we're going. Sometimes all at once, right when we need it. 

Humbird makes music in pursuit of exactly this phenomenon. With deep roots in the midwest heartland, Humbird also travels like a bramble, fusing experimental folk and environmental Americana genres in a mosaic of theaters, clubs, gardens, festivals, barns, caves, and other strange locations. 

Siri Undlin, the songwriter behind the moniker, forges an explorative embodiment of the narrative folk song and balladry tradition for these modern times, inviting a whole host of collaborators and listeners to add and expand the music. Humbird has received enthusiastic praise from within the folk world, including being awarded one of Kerrville Folk Festival's New Folk winners in 2021. Her work is influenced by great songwriters like John Prine and Joni Mitchell, as well as her own experiences growing up with Irish music, studying classical music, and singing hymns at the church where her mother preaches. Undlin will be joined by bassist Pat Keen at Folkus.

Still Life (2021), Humbird’s sophomore record, focuses on small domestic moments in the context of global events. In particular, the record details the lived experiences within Siri’s neighborhood in South Minneapolis during the wake of George Floyd’s murder by a city police officer. It is an album that cultivates soundscapes and intentional lyrics that tell braided stories. It reckons with anger, grief, and white supremacy while carving out reflective, fertile space to process current events.

Humbird’s debut full-length album, Pharmakon (2019) a careful look at that which can both cure and wound us: love, ambition, winter, and sea shells, to name a few lyrical topics. The record received critical acclaim from tastemakers such as Folk Alley and 89.3 The Current and amassed significant streams online. Not long after the album's release, Humbird, along with so many fellow traveling musicians, were grounded by the global pandemic. Responding to the times, Humbird and friends took to backyard campfires, forests, and planetariums (in over 100 pop-up locations) to perform acoustic ballads and fairytales with original improvised scores for micro audiences, adapting to the moment and crisis at hand.

Since returning to the road, Undlin and her bandmates have toured full-time across the US, UK and Ireland. With plenty of new music on the horizon, Humbird continues to share reflections that combine and subvert genres and perspectives via recordings, performances, zines, stories, and more.

“Siri Undlin’s crystalline voice is thoroughly enchanting...an absolutely hypnotic listening experience.” --Folk Alley

“You can’t deny the rich experiences and young wisdom that helped find these words… both beautiful and a reminder of the part we all play in determining our fate.” --Folk Radio UK

“With a burgeoning sense of social responsibility and her recognition of the role an artist can play in facilitating conversations about social issues, Siri Undlin will undoubtedly continue to be a force for good.” --Brooke Billick, Americana Highways

This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by CNY Arts.

This project is made possible with funds from the Tier Three Project Support program, a regrant program of the County of Onondaga with the support of the County Executive and administered by CNY Arts.

  ~ This project is also made possible through the support and generosity of our Folkus members. ~