The Bridges Live on CosmoGirl!
The Bridges are now live on CosmoGirl! Their exclusive Q & A discusses their music and includes a playlist handpicked by the band. 8/12/2008The Bridges "Pieces" is a Smash!
The Bridges video for "Pieces" has now surpassed 180,000 views on YouTube and is currently the most watched video on mtvU.com.Buy the new ringtone for "Pieces" today.
8/1/2008
Newsweek says "Hear The Bridges"
Newsweek names The Bridges to their Checklist column and describes them as “country-rock reminiscent of the 70’s, yet fresh with melodic energy.”7/14/2008
The Bridges Debut Album Available June 10!
The debut album from The Bridges - Limits Of The Sky - will be released June 10. The album was recorded in Los Angeles, and produced by Matthew Sweet. It showcases the band's original, indelible songs and shimmering, sunny harmonies. Earlier this year, The Bridges were featured in Paste Magazine's "4 To Watch" column, which noted, "The band's threepart harmonies are catchy every time ... The Bridges deliver their material with exuberance, and their story is as charming as the music."You can pre-order the album now at NewburyComics.com and get a limited edition autographed booklet. You can also pre-order from Amazon.com.
6/2/2008
The Bridges on NewburyComics.com
Pre-Order our upcoming release Limits Of The Sky and get a limited edition autographed CD Booklet!5/28/2008iTunes Single Now Available!!
Our first single, Pieces, is now available on iTunes. Go download it now!!!5/23/2008
New Dates with Rooney...
Hey everyone! Just wanted to let you know that we are going out on tour with Rooney this summer! So many cool cities and really cool venues... we're so excited :) Check the tour page for details.Hope to see a lot of you out and about!4/22/2008
Pre-Order The New Album Now
Limits Of The Sky is available now via pre-order on Amazon.com. Go order your copy today!3/28/2008
9/12/2008
Nashville, TN
9/14/2008
New York, NY
Come out and see The Bridges perform in Union Square Park at 4:00 PM!
9/17/2008
BALTIMORE, Maryland, United States
7:00 AM
Music Monitor Showcase 10/20/2008
Boulder, CO
10/20/2008
BOULDER, Colorado, United States
10/22/2008
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, United States
10/22/2008
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, United States
10/23/2008
CHICAGO, Illinois, United States
10/23/2008
CHICAGO, Illinois, United States
10/24/2008
Pittsburgh, PA
10/24/2008
PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania, United States
10/25/2008
Cleveland, OH
10/25/2008
CLEVELAND, Ohio, United States
10/27/2008
BOSTON, Massachusetts, United States
10/28/2008
NEW YORK, New York, United States
10/28/2008
NEW YORK, New York, United States
10/29/2008
BOSTON, Massachusetts, United States
10/29/2008
Falls Church, VA
10/29/2008
FALLS CHURCH, Virginia, United States
10/30/2008
Atlanta, GA
10/30/2008
ATLANTA, Georgia, United States
On their Verve Forecast debut album Limits of the Sky, the Oxford, Alabama-based quintet the Bridges unveils a disarming brand of heartfelt, harmony-laden pop-folk-rock that combines youthful exuberance with surprisingly mature songcraft.The group, whose members range in age from 18 to 24, consists of siblings Natalie Byrd (piano and guitar), Stacey Byrd (guitar), Isaaca Byrd (bass) and Jeremy Byrd (drums), and cousin Brittany Painter, who provides hauntingly expressive lead vocals and plays acoustic guitar. Brittany writes most of the band's lyrics, with all five collaborating on the music.
The Bridges' tight-knit chemistry is apparent throughout Limits of the Sky, which was produced by noted pop-rock auteur Matthew Sweet and consists entirely of the band's original compositions. Their effortless harmonies and seamless instrumental rapport are prominent on such compelling tunes as "All the Words," "One Way," "One I Love" and "Echo," which combine a subtly inventive melodic sensibility with insightful, emotionally resonant lyrics that belie the artists' youth.
"I think it's a really good representation of who we are," Natalie says of the album. "We didn't care about making it perfect or polished; we wanted it to be real and organic and emotional. It's kind of raw in some ways, and maybe there are some flaws, but they're our flaws. I think it sounds like us."
The members of the Bridges have been making music together for much of their lives, developing their musical vision on their own terms, free of the influence of transient musical trends. The musicians grew up in families that were both musically inclined and church-oriented, and were not encouraged by their parents to listen to secular pop music.
"I always had a special connection with my cousins growing up, and music was always a big part of that," says Brittany, who began writing songs in her early teens. "When I first started writing, I would call them and play what I'd written over the phone. Then when I'd see them over the holidays, we would arrange harmonies and they would create their guitar parts."
During her senior year of high school, Brittany relocated from her family's home in North Carolina to join her cousins in Alabama, in order to concentrate on their budding musical collaboration. Brittany, Natalie and Stacey initially performed as an acoustic trio, under the name Long Story Short, playing at church events and in local coffeehouses.
In 2005, younger siblings Isaaca and Jeremy joined to make the group an amplified five-piece. "When we went electric, we pretty much had to start over and figure a new way to create music together," says Natalie. "We totally reinvented ourselves, and wrote a whole new set of songs, and pulled from a whole new set of influences."
By that point, the band had tapped into a rich new vein of musical inspiration, belatedly discovering a world of classic pop music recorded long before they were born. "We started listening to a lot of '60s and '70s music," Brittany explains, "and we loved it so much that it pushed us into a different direction. We really pulled a lot from that stuff, and that's when the songwriting really took off."
"All we had really known before that was church music," Natalie adds. "But when we discovered acts like the Beatles, Fleetwood Mac and Crosby, Stills and Nash, we fell in love with their music and bands like these became our musical inspiration. When we heard these recordings, it taught us a lot about what makes a real song, and it made us shake up what we were doing."
Along with the lineup change came a new name. "We liked the Bridges because of the symbolism," states Natalie. "We want to make music that bridges gaps between modern music and '60s and '70s music, and between our Christianity and our secular career. Also, the bridge is a really important part of a song, and we love writing bridges."
Shortly after becoming a quintet, the Bridges made the jump to playing in rock venues, and their regional touring efforts soon began to yield the beginnings of an enthusiastic fan base. Subsequent tours with Rooney and the Bangles continued the band's steady progress.
"We were all a little naive when we started, and we didn't know anything about the music industry," Brittany notes. "But there's always been a natural progression. From the start, there's always been a series of little things that kept us motivated, and made us feel like we have something good going on here."
When it came time to record Limits of the Sky, the Bridges found a sympathetic ear in studio veteran Matthew Sweet. "We loved working with Matthew," says Brittany. "We'd heard so many stories about new artists getting pushed around by producers, but Matthew kept everything organic and real. He was very respectful of our ideas, and he was very supportive and careful not to step on anybody's toes. He seemed more interested in capturing what we do, rather than imposing some other agenda on us."
The resulting album offers ample evidence of the Bridges' powerful musical and familial bond. "I can't imagine being in a band with anyone else," Natalie asserts. "We've all gone through the same things together and discovered music together, so we all speak the same language, musically and otherwise."
"We want to last," Brittany concludes. "Of course we want to be successful. But if that didn't happen for us, that wouldn't stop us from making music, because it's what we love and what keeps us going."
Limits Of The SkyCatalog # 00602517643505
release date 6/10/2008
Verve Forecast
1. All The Words
2. One Way
3. Pieces
4. Runaway
5. Unconditional
6. One I Love
7. Blue
8. Echo
9. Finding it Hard
10. Say The Least
11. Under The Sun
12. Happy In Love
Publicity Photos
Candids
The Bridges - Live In-store performance at Criminal Records in Atlanta, GA
The Bridges - Performed at Young Avenue Deli
Filmed by Prince Bobo
The Bridges - All The Words - Performed at Young Avenue Deli
Filmed by Prince Bobo
Reaching For The Stars
Dancing In Matthew's Kitchen
6/22/2008The Bridges Tour Blog 2!
Hello everyone! I'm sitting in a hotel somewhere in North Carolina and thought it was time to upload some videos and tell you what's going on. It's almost 5am so if it's short... you gotta forgive me :)
We were in Philadelphia the other night, fun place. lots of rooms backstage to sit around in. This is us singing a song Jeremy wrote a while ago... its unfinished and us just messing around... enjoy...
And this was us tonight! In North Carolina at a Ham's Restaurant with just a few of our family members :) Now, we have a pretty big family and it's rare for us to all get together and hang out for awhile- so we haven't played in North Carolina for a LONG time and we're so happy our family could come out and see us :)
aww, we love them :)
Okay- TOMORROW we head to Atlanta, GA! We're so excited to be back in Atlanta, it's been awhile since we've played and we miss it dearly! Can't wait to see some good friends and (more) family...
Hope to see YOU out there as well.....
'till next time...
love,
The Bridges
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6/17/2008
The Bridges Tour Blog!
hey guys! we're on the road again with rooney! and we're really excited. we're going to be posting tour blogs every few days on our myspace and our new website- www.thebridgesmusic.net - so check both of those for pictures, videos and updates about our journey on the road :)
actually our second blog video, but we'll just call it our first because it's the first one we've posted on here!
and this was just kinda funny to us...
we had a lot of free time in new york :)
alright-- enjoy!! we'll see you on the road....
love,
the bridges
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1/31/2008
Finishing Up!!! (studio blog 6)
So as of Tuesday, January 29th, we finished recording in Matthews house...dropped Isaaca and Jeremy off at the airport (a sad moment) and returned to our oakwood apartment waiting patiently to hear the first final mix. We were thrilled to find out that Jim Scott would be doing our mixing immediately following our recording sessions with Matthew. Fortunately for us, there was a cancellation on his end and we were able to take that spot for this week! The first song to be mixed was a new one we finished writing in the studio called, Finding It Hard. I have to say that for me personally it's one of my favorites we've done. When we arrived at Jim's studio our manager Russell was waiting along with Matthew and Greg Leisz. We all listened to the mix a few times adjusted like one minor thing and that was that. I am so thrilled about the songs I will be hearing back this week!
We do miss Isaaca and Jeremy and wish they were still here with us...this video was recorded the night before our last night in the studio...stacey might kill me but I'm gonna do it anyway :)
Again, I'll be keeping you all updated if anything is going on...keep checkin :)
-Brittany + The Bridges
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1/19/2008
The Bridges in Paste Magazine...(studio blog 5)
For those of you who don't know, The Bridges have been featured in Paste Magazine's February issue "4 To Watch". I believe it is safe to say that we will also have a song featured in next months issue on the CD sampler...just wanted to let you know.
As for recording, we are still in LA working on it. We were given a deadline a few days ago so now we're working extra hard trying to finish up all the last minute things. We will be returning home on January 26th (exactly 1 week from today) and hopefully play a show here and there as we continue to work on other album related things. Unfortunately, this blog will not have any fun pictures or youtubes (that will come soon- promise!)- it was only meant to be informative. We love all of you....
- brittany + the bridges
check out the article online...
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1/9/2008
Incase you were wondering... (studio blog 4)
After a good holiday that hardly felt like a break at all, we are back to work. We flew into LA on January 2nd ready to complete the album. I've been writing lyrics the past couple of days for two new songs we've never recorded before and for some songs that we've tweaked in some way or another. We found out this week that we don't have a set departure date and that we'll be here until the album is done! Yep...we're in it for the long haul. We love LA but are all missing home already, however, we are very excited to hear the finished product. Greg Leisz (look him up...he's great) is coming in on Friday and some other time next week to add some pedal steel and a few other instruments to some of our songs. The last time he came in he layed down pedal steel on Happy In Love and literally made us cry. Yes, we're a little dramatic sometimes, but his playing is that good! Before I forget, we have a show on Monday the 14th at Hotel Cafe here in LA. If you're in the area you need to be there! We all got excited today because we found out we actually have a place to practice the day before...it's been 2 months since we've practiced so you can see the excitement in that. ha. Now I'm probably rambling so I will just leave you with a picture of the album chart and its progress...its freaking huge by the way and I've worked long and hard on it...
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12/18/2007
The Bridges and Verve Records and Merry Christmas!...(studio blog 3)
Yes it's true...we officially signed with Verve Records a few days ago and are more than excited about it! Two weeks ago we played at the Universal Christmas party where we were introduced by the president of Verve to all those that work for the label. Fender supplied all of our gear which is always a little weird for us (playing a show without our own instruments can somewhat be a disaster) however we pulled through and were pleased...sort of ;).
So along with all the excitement of being part of a label we are also getting more and more amped up about the album! We have now layed down all of the drum and bass tracks and by the end of the day piano will be checked off the list. yay!
We go home this Thursday for Christmas but will be returning to LA January 2nd to finish the album...
In other news, The Bridges will be featured in the February issue of Paste Magazine as a band to look out for in 2008 so be sure to pick up a copy!
Other than that on behalf of all the band we wish you all a Merry Christmas! Keep checking in for more updates...
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11/29/2007
I just won’t tell you about it...(studio blog 2)
We just finished the vocals to the new and improved "Pieces"! It's sounding lovely and we're all very happy with the songs so far. Matthew's home studio is possibly the best place to spend our days. It's like an art museum filled with original Margaret Keane paintings (the famous "big eye" pictures) and a few other artists. He also has a lot of wooden sculptures along with his original pottery all over the place, very inspiring to say the least.This week has been very fun so far. On Monday, Susanna Hoffs, from The Bangles came over and laid down some tambourine and shakers on All the Words, One I Love, and Pieces. Trae (our booking agent) was in town with his family and was able to hang out for a few days. Unfortunately I was sick for 2 days with all kinds of sinus problems and missed out on all the group activities. Blah. Also this week, Matthew's neighborhood was on alert and being watched by the police due to some guy Lisa dubbed the "thin man". He apparently was breaking into peoples houses and being caught just standing there. On being seen, he would just run out of the house. It kinda just freaked everyone out because of the fact that he wasn't robbing anyone...just standing and looking. This happened a few times and the day before being caught broke into Matthew's neighbor's house. The day he was arrested Matthew had a run in with the guy just a few hours before. The guy was posing as some kind of Jehova's Witness and was being extremely skeptical. Just weird. Everything's fine now and we can sit outside in peace finally! ha ha. Anyway, moving on...on our first day back to record with Matthew he suggested we make an album chart to keep us organized and "unbored". I didn't think we'd actually go through with it but the following day his wife Lisa brought home lots of poster board and fun markers for us. I volunteered to be in charge and immediately got to work. I maybe even got a little carried away but here is where we are on the chart thus far:
and for your enjoyment... I walked in on everybody dancing in the kitchen...funny.
I'll update again soon...
love.
brittany + the bridges
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11/22/2007
Incase you didn’t know....(studio blog 1) HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
Well for starters I'm sure you all have realized we haven't been playing any shows lately...and although we wish we were, we're more happy to be in LA recording our first real album! Yes, we arrived in California Nov. 17th to start the writing and recording process with none other than, Matthew Sweet. For the past few days we've been retracking: All The Words, One I Love, and Pieces which we believe are definately going to be on the album. We also recorded a few ideas for some new songs that we hope will be apart of the record as well...we'll see. We added some new pictures today that we did for fun a few months ago with our friend, Noah Culver- go check them out! We do have a few exciting things in the works at the moment but I don't think I'm at liberty to share...at least not yet. We hope that everyone had an AMAZING Thanksgiving, we love ya'll.
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4/4/2007
in the studio -part I
i'm sitting here in the studio now... we just got done eating some late lunch and britt is about to go do her first "real" vocal track. it's going to be good.
we've put down 13 songs so far. we're really excited about them. but we know that 13 is a large number...we're really hoping we'll have enough time to finish all of them, because we'd hate to leave here without one being done.
while i have nothing to do i'll tell you about the fire... we're staying at oakwood apartments and a fire started directly in front of our apartment building. it turned into a huge fire all the way up a mountain... they were afraid it would burn down the hollywood sign... after several hours it was finally put out. but our building was the only one that had the alarm going off. we had to hurry into our apartment and pack up everything as fast as we could. it was pretty freaky... but, there's not really a high point to this story. our building didn't burn down. no one died or was amazingly rescued. but we were interviewed to be on the news. thats a good ending, right?
a new (and maybe final) update on the song list:
echo
runaway
everythought of you
to love is to lose
hard from the start
who do you love?
that much
young heart
i've got a feeling
blue
one down (good way)
unconditional
to say the least.
i think that's 13...
love.
stacey + the bridges
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3/29/2007
in the studio
So this will be our blog for our studio time. we'll be updating it every fews days or so with videos and pictures of us here in the studio.
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3/28/2007
in the studio
We're in the studio right now, it's about 6:30 and our second day here. we had a little problem with mics and drums and ended up having to recut 2 songs we did yesterday- but it wasn't too bad. we got through them pretty quickly and easily.
as we speak we are recording/writing a new track called "runaway" -- we've never had to finish a song while being in the studio so its kinda different for us, but i think it's coming along...slowly but surely...
tracks finished as of now:
i've got a feeling
unconditional
blue
one down (or good way? you tell us)
to say the least
well. that's all for now. pictures/videos will be with you shortly.
stacey + the bridges
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Get The "Pieces" Ringtone!
You can now download The Bridges' single "Pieces" as a mobile ringtone. Get the ringtone here.
Management & Booking:
Russell Carter Artist Management, Ltd.
567 Ralph McGill Blvd
Atlanta, GA 30312
Phone: 404-377-9900
Email: rcam.info@gmail.com
Publicity:
Shorefire Media
32 Court St. 16th Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Phone: 718-522-7171
Matt Hanks - mhanks@shorefire.com
Carrie Tolles - ctolles@shorefire.com
Record Label:
Verve Music Group
1755 Broadway
3rd Floor
New York, NY 10019
