Hailing from Raleigh, North Carolina, Bowerbirds play a lush mix of folksy, Americana tunes filled with accordion, violin, and acoustic instrumentals that invoke the tranquility of their Appalachian setting. Consisting of native resident Beth Tacular, her partner Phil Moore, and Mark Paulson–- two more recent Iowa imports-– the band has a clear connection to nature, reflected in everything from their lyrics about sounds of the forest to their avian-inspired name, which Tacular adopted after reading about that breed in a children’s encyclopedia.

Having just released their latest album Hymns From A Dark Horse this week (June 17), and on the cusp of embarking on a hectic national tour supporting soul-folk singer friend Bon Iver, psychoPEDIA caught up with the music-making couple of Tacular and Moore, who currently reside in an Airstream trailer in the countryside outside of Raleigh, for a tour of their scenic hometown:

What are the hometown influences behind your newest album?
At the time the songs were written, we were living in the country. I think it has a lot of “space” because of that– a clarity.

Since your music is nature-inspired, what are your favorite outdoor sites?
Umstead Park has a great trail system to walk around, and Lake Johnson. The whole of North Carolina is just trees. Everything’s lush and green here.

Is there a good spot for bird-watching?
Out where we live is wonderful. We see so many different varieties. And the Hollow River is great— you see a lot of bald eagles.

As an earth-loving band, do you have favorite eco-friendly places in town? Piedmont Biofuels Co-op is a great place to get gasoline if you drive a diesel. With restaurants here, since there’s a big farming infrastructure, they get a lot of produce from local sources. At Enoteca Vin, where Mark works, they get a lot of their meat, greens, and other vegetables from local places. There are a few fair-trade, organic coffee places, too— Royal Bean, and Counter Culture. And a street market in Pittsboro called Chatam Marketplace, where 95% percent of the meat is organic and natural.

Best way to keep cool in the North Carolina heat?
Locopops, a new popsicle business started in Durham. It’s a little retail space, painted white with no decoration and a freezer against one wall. They have hundreds of varieties that they make them themselves. Cream-based and vegan ones, flavors like strawberry basil or rosemary chocolate. They also have dog popsicles!

Which shops are best for getting folk instruments like the ones you play? There’s a place called High Strung Music. Fat Sound has great amplifiers, guitars, and old acoustics. But we get our accordions from a guy in Wisconsin.

Favorite local clubs to play?
Bull City Headquarters— a little co-op space with a bicycle repair shop in it. Then there’s Local 506, which has the staple bands that come through, and Cat’s Cradle which houses larger bands.

Since aside from the music, you're also a visual artist, what are your favorite places to display or check out other work?
My favorite gallery is Lump. They bring the most avant-garde or cutting-edge emerging artists, established weird art, or locally progressive art to the Triangle. If I didn’t have it, my idea of art in the public world would’ve been limited to what I saw in magazines. Downtown Raleigh has an Art Walk on the first Friday of the month, where all galleries have an opening. I’ve also shown at Design Box. Wootini in Capitol Hill brings artists from around the country as well as local artists. They even have an area with Japanese toys. And Branch Gallery is fancier, but still has some aesthetically cutting-edge art.

Where do you go to get a dose of outside culture?
The Internationalist Bookstore and Community Center is great, because they have sections on ecology, gender studies, sexuality, and the best magazine selection. The Regulator Bookstore in Durham, and Quail Ridge, which has a classical music section. The Center for Documentary Studies has the International Documentary Film Festival every year-– put on by progressive-minded people to open eyes to an environmental issue or labor issue. And the American Dance Festival happens here.

Best places to get antiques or home furnishings for your nest?
Father & Son Antiques— it’s vintage mid-century stuff. We bought a lot of our furniture there. You can get second-hand things at the same price as a regular store. Beggars & Choosers has some furniture, cheaper than at other antique stores, but it’s good for vintage and antique clothes, neat old jewelry, and household things like pictures frames and fabrics. I get a lot of my clothes there, because they have dresses from the 1910s and 1930s. I just bought a couple of slips from the 1910 at 10 dollars each.

Young female bowerbirds are known for having a penchant for "fancy men." Where are the best places to pick up them up?
Mark in our band is “fancy.” He’s single and needs to be picked up. The Raleigh Times Bar is probably where you’d find them. It’s a cross-over place where hipsters and yuppies go. They seem to bathe. They’re the cleanest men, and put product in their hair. Clean-cut sort of dandies.

Where would you go to do a courtship dance after you’ve found your mate?
Hell has a dance night. And a bar called the Jackpot up the street from Mark’s house– the seedy, dirty, smoky hipster bar in town.

What about your own first date in town?
We went to Reservoir to see the band Caliphone. Afterwards, we went dumpster diving at the PTA Thrift Store. I used to do that because you could find the stuff people didn’t think was good enough to sell. We found My Little Pony figurines and 80s unicorn stickers. I was in the middle of doing a series of paintings about unicorns, so it was meant to be! Then we went to a bar called the Orange County Social Club, with a neat beer garden in the back. We had a couple drinks, then went to Forest Theater— an amphitheatre in Chapel Hill, near the UNC campus. There are hiking trails and woods on one side, and the university on the other. No one goes there at night, so it’s really quiet. We climbed on a big wall where we hung out until 5 in the morning.

Best place to spend an overnight romantic stay?
There’s a B&B that’s an organic goat farm, called Celebrity Dairy. And there’s a nice camping site on the Eno River in the state park, which has a beautiful river and trees.

Favorite thing about Raleigh?
You can walk to everything. And everywhere you go, you run into six people you know.


~Leann Peterson