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BLACKBYRD

Made up of three dynamic young Capetonians, Tarryn Lamb, Samantha Heldsinger and Tamsyn Maker, BlackByrd have spent the past three years working towards the moment when EMI Music signed them to their major label at the beginning of the year.

Since January 2012, the group, along with promoter and music-industry veteran Mike Fuller as manager, have been creating a body of work that will be released as a 13-track, Mark Beling-produced debut album this September. “Tarryn wrote all, bar one track, on the album,” Heldsinger points out. Titled Strong, BlackByrd’s debut album, like “All For Me”, is filled with real emotion, powerful lyrics and a level of genuine spirituality that’s as rare as their combined pool of talent.

In finding a track that spoke to the overall message BlackByrd hope to achieve when Strong is released next month, country classic “Reason To Believe” immortalised by Rod Stewart was an obvious choice, especially when it came to lyrics that speak a thousand words each time the song is played.

Lamb and Heldsinger first met while studying at Cape Town’s Waterfront Theatre School. The two quickly struck up a relationship that evolved into a group when B.Com graduate Maker completed their musical circle. “Mike, our manager, helped shape BlackByrd,” Maker recalls. “We all took acoustic guitar lessons, adding to our dynamic, and they’ve found their way into our live performances now too.”

After three years together the trio have “come into our own,” Lamb says. “We’re definitely on the right road. With EMI behind us now we have a great team of people supporting our every move.”

“We’ve grown together as a group,” Heldsinger adds. “Our sound has evolved too.”  “All For Me” as well as all the tracks that make up their stellar debut are weighted in real content and messages that everyone who hears will share a genuine affinity towards.

“BlackByrd lives through the songs we write,” Lamb says. “Our music, and how we grow it from here, comes from a collective openness and willingness to be real. It’s important that what people hear in a track like “All For Me” reflects who we are as people.”   What you hear on Strong is brutal honestly, raw emotion and an energy that’s profound.

Everything Lamb, Heldsinger and Maker did up to the point of signing on the dotted line with EMI was an important warm-up to the place BlackByrd is now set to soar from. “Our overriding messages on “All For Me”, as with all the tracks on the album, are positive,” Lamb explains. “It’s all about not looking back and focusing on what the future holds.”

Although BlackByrd’s music is moving a wide cross-section of fans, and finding support right across the country, women everywhere are especially receptive to their positive messages. “Our songs are all quite cathartic,” Heldsinger says. “Even for us. It’s music that’s intended to make people happy.”

Each time BlackByrd sing the world gets a little bit smaller, while their fan base swells. Music with integrity is rare, but when these three beautiful and vivacious women do it they steal hearts and charts at every opportunity.

EMI International Label Manager

natashak@emimusic.co.za

Management

Mike Fuller

fullers@netactive.co.za

Website blackbyrd.bandpage.com