Singer wins ‘Lottery’ with mix of genres
Jade Bird has always been on the move. As the child of a military member, she went from the small town of Hexhem in southern England to London, South Wales and even Germany. But her biggest leap — at least sonically — took place at the age of 13, when she was introduced to Americana- and roots-influenced music.
“I remember family friends having a guitar and playing me (songs by artists like) the Civil Wars and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Neil Young when I was about 12 or 13,” she says, in a rapidfire fashion. “And then I really dug deep for myself — I thought this music was really cool.”
It was the first step in a path that would lead her to recording her first extended play across the Atlantic, in upstate New York, then a string of festival appearances, and now her first U.S.-headlining tour, which makes its way to the Chapel in San Francisco on Thursday, Sept. 6.
Not only did Bird, who turns 21 in October, pick up bands to admire from across the Atlantic, she also did it without the help of her parents, who are much more into electronic dance music (she says she still has “a place in my heart” for parental-approved acts like the
Chemical Brothers and Aphex Twin). But her early work, especially 2017’s debut EP, “Something American,” leaned into that folk-country vibe hard, and early stateside touring took her to Stagecoach, one of America’s biggest country music festivals.
“Music for me is just so not exclusive to genres,” she says. “If the country audience likes my music, I’m going to go (perform) to the country audience, same as alternative and same as pop.”
It’s in that genre-flexible stance that Bird has found success. “Something American” is rooted in the folkie Americana she discovered from her friends. But her biggest hit, “Lottery,” went to the top spot on Billboard’s Adult Alternative Songs chart, home of artists like Death Cab for Cutie and Florence + the Machine. It’s a hit large enough to take her to “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon,” along with the public radio in-studio performance circuit.
“It’s kind of crazy,” she says of the whirlwind that comes with a hit song. “It’s less unmanageable crazy, because I’ve written it myself and it’s directly from the heart, whether it’s (performed) on Fallon or in a living room with three people. That makes it a little more manageable. But the whole thing’s mad.”
Country to pop may not be the largest transition, but her latest single, “Uh Huh,” takes another leap, with a ’90s alternative feel that would fit perfectly on Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill.” That may not be a coincidence.
“My mom used to play her in the car when I was young, but I almost rediscovered her about a year ago,” Bird says of the Canadian singer-songwriter. “I could not believe how much it connected to me as a young woman. It’s almost like she had a direct input into everything you feel as a 20year-old.” With her current singles reflecting a change in influences — along with Morissette, she says that Patti Smith and Elliott Smith have been front-of-mind for her lately — her live show is more raucous than her early material might suggest.
“It’s a lot edgier. It actually got a rock attitude, and the band has an edge to it,” she says. “After ‘Lottery,’ when ‘Uh Huh’ came out, I think it was a nice surprise. And we’ve got the acoustic song, the pop song, the piano ballad, the rock songs. … It’s a range, and I think that always surprises people.”