Who is Fish in a Birdcage?
Based out of Victoria British Colombia, Galway Ireland, and now Granada Spain Fish in a Birdcage is modern Renaissance, Electronica to folk strings.
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The new album, Waterfall, released by Fish In A Bird Cage is like nothing you've heard before it. Songwriter and performer Dusty Townsend writes in a unique and different way by utilizing the cello as a main instrument of focus.
The album is a fun, indie pop record glued together by the beautiful bowed sound of the cello throughout. After going to school for music and majoring in vocals, Dusty decided to put together his first solo effort, and is breaking new ground in doing so.
"The idea behind fish in a birdcage is that the fish is an able bodied creature with the potential to "fly" just not in that environment. I relate to that personally, being an artist confined or caged into a place where I cannot "fly" or live up to my full potential because of the caging of my environment."
says the songwriter.
Dusty is inspired and progresses through playing as much as possible, from basements and rooftops, to the streets of Victoria BC. With a bow in his right hand and an ebony fretboard clutched in his left, Dusty has adventured far to bring his message of love to a wide audience. Hauling a guitar, cello, banjo, accordion, washboard, belt of harmonicas, and a shoebourine almost everywhere he goes hasn't been easy, yet has been crucial to developing his repertoire.
He explains, "Climbing roofs and writing music has been a big part of being a musician, being arrested a couple of times from climbing rooftops, playing for the waterfowl down at a place called bower ponds, and playing music at night while everyone is asleep. There's one song that I wrote called the rooftop jam, and the lyrics in that song are the reason why I play music, it goes
'if we can change a life, or open someone's eyes,
if we can save a life I will feel complete"
Dusty has played with countless amazing musicicans, has toured across canada, from the west coast out to Montreal, and is planning to push his release to new fans around the world.