Birdtalker

Nashville’s Birdtalker meld glowing indie folk with lushly textured rock and intimate songwriting courtesy of its core members, the husband-and-wife duo of Zack and Dani Green. With no prior experience playing in bands, the duo quickly built a name for themselves in the mid-2010s, expanding to a nimble quintet ahead of their 2018 debut album, One. One of its singles, “Heavy,” became a breaking streaming hit, earning Birdtalker mainstream recognition which they nurtured over the next several years. Their self-titled follow-up arrived in 2021 and amid frequent tours, they continued to issue a prolific string of singles and EPs. After slimming down to a quartet, the group released its third album, All Means, No End, in late 2024. Birdtalker was formed in 2012 by guitarist and singer Zack Green and his wife, keyboardist and singer Dani Green. The two had only recently been married when Zack decided to write a song, and he asked Dani, who had studied writing as an English major, to help with the lyrics. The two were happy with the results and decided to pen more tunes together. Close friend Andy Hubright (drums) soon joined the Greens and in the summer of 2013, the trio made their public debut with a short set before a local outdoor production of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Another local musician Brian Seligman saw the performance and soon joined the group, playing mandolin and guitar. Birdtalker rehearsed and performed as a quartet for roughly a year until Jesse Baker, a fan of the group, approached them, offering to play bass. After extensive live work, the quintet made their recorded debut in June 2016 with the digital single “Heavy.” Two months later, the song appeared on a six-song EP, Just This. Early 2018 saw the release of the fiery anti-hypocrisy-themed single “Outside the Lines” in advance of the full-length One, which arrived later that June. One also included Birdtalker’s early first single “Heavy,” which found some traction and became a breakout streaming success. Over the next couple of years, the group toured in support of their debut while working with Nashville producer JD Tiner on their follow-up. The resulting self-titled album was released in October 2021 bearing a denser and more expansive harmonic sound that leaned a little harder into their folk-rock side. A series of related songs appeared over the next two years and were later collated into the 2023 EP B-Sides. Meanwhile, Zack Green continued to pursue a concurrent career writing and producing for other acts. As a band, Birdtalker also collaborated with Joy Williams on the 2023 single “Wake Up Child” ahead of their next EP, 2024′s Movin’ On. By this point, drummer Andy Hubright had left the group to pursue other projects and they carried on as a quartet utilizing session drummers. Birdtalker’s third album, All Means, No End, was released in November 2024. Scaling down some of the grandiosity of their previous LP, the album was more sonically intimate with smart songwriting that touched on resiliency and personal growth. ~ Mark Deming