Music Review: Maygen & The Birdwatcher, ‘Bootleggin’ at the Flower Shoppe’
An award-winning Midwest country act is back with a lively, charming new EP.
Maygen & the Birdwatcher, Bootleggin’ at the Flower Shoppe album artwork, 2022.
When we reviewed Maygen & The Birdwatcher’s first full-length album Moonshine back in October 2021, they were riding the high of a sold-out album release show at Icehouse in Minneapolis. Their star has continued to rise since then: In February they won two Midwest Country Music Organization awards (Album of the Year and Americana Artist of the Year). Their summer’s been peppered with profile-raising gigs, opening for major country acts and making their debut at several regional events, including the 2022 Blue Ox Music Festival in Wisconsin.
You’d be forgiven for thinking all this exciting momentum and country-industry recognition is what fueled the writing of their new EP (released today on Bandcamp and coming to other platforms in the next few days). On Bootleggin’ at the Flower Shoppe, they lean hard into the country side of their sound and deliver a whirlwind of six toe-tapping tunes. But actually, these “energetic and good-timin’ songs,” as they call them, were written around the same time as the material on Moonshine, which featured a more contemporary sound, folk-rock touches and introspective lyrics.
Released less than a year after that album, Bootleggin’ is intended as a companion collection, providing listeners with another side to the band and showcasing the range of their talents and musical interests. (Which, with two distinctive and seasoned bandleaders in Maygen Lacey and Noah Neumann, is a pretty diverse range!)
Maygen & the Birdwatcher at Icehouse 2021. Photo credit: Tom Smouse.
The opening track sets the tone for what to expect: This is going to be a party record, but not an empty-headed one. For “No, Joe!” Lacey’s lead vocals are backed by members of The Foxgloves. (The two groups seem tight: The Foxgloves opened for Maygen & The Birdwatcher for their album release show, and Lacey and Neumann are returning the favor for The Foxgloves’ upcoming album release—which will also serve as the release show for the Bootleggin’ EP—at the Hook and Ladder Theater in Minneapolis on September 23.)
A Minnesota-based six-piece all-woman band, The Foxgloves are another fairly new act that’s been gaining momentum ever since they won the 2021 Blue Ox Virtual Band Competition. The addition of harmonies and giggles from the feisty guest group (whom I referred to as “a whole lot of fun trouble” in my review of their Blue Ox set) helps make the bluegrassy “No, Joe!” a galloping, gleeful take-down of men who won’t take no for an answer from women. “Who raised you anyway?” the ladies shout together at the end of one verse.
The next track on the EP, “Take It to the Garden,” is mellow by comparison but still has a buoyant sound with a midtempo rhythm. Lacey’s lovely lead vocals express an uplifting message of love through the classic format of singing about writing a song. The simple yet profound concept running throughout is that a song is a conveyance for the songwriter’s care to follow their loved one and support them wherever they are or what they’re going through.
Neumann tends to play a supporting vocal role, letting Lacey’s bright clear voice shine, but he sometimes takes the lead, as in the next track, “He Ain’t Me.” Bandmates who take turns on vocals are always interesting, but in this group it’s especially striking because of the contrast between the two leads’ voices: Neumann’s bluesy growl, rough and soulful, sounds even grittier when trading songs or harmonizing with Lacey. It’s well suited for this song, a tongue-in-cheek litany (in playful 3/4 time) of all the ways his object of desire’s boyfriend doesn’t measure up: “You know that I think he’s just okay / He don’t wear black jeans / He don’t say nice things / He can’t play a lick on his guitar / He can’t grow his beard long…”
Noah Neumann of Maygen & the Birdwatcher at Icehouse, 2021. Photo credit: Tom Smouse.
The next three songs are more serious in tone lyrically but don’t let up on the energy. Lacey takes lead vocals on “Rusty Cage,” an atmospheric, fast-paced (except for a dramatic slow-down midsong) jaunt about escaping a bad situation (possibly an abusive relationship). “Unseen,” though slower in tempo, is a hard-driving Americana rock tune (sung by Neumann) about struggle and hopelessness; its intense, distorted electric guitar; heavy drums; and winding fiddle lines remind me of certain Jason Isbell songs, which can be pretty dark in meaning while still feeling exhilarating musically.
“Oh Lordy” (with Lacey taking the mic again) conveys a sense of restlessness and discontent, as well as cynicism and despair about the state of society. The chorus (“I wanna get out, get out, get out, but I stay in, stay in, stay in”), which builds to a frenetic pace by the end of the song, could be about being trapped in lockdown or about wanting to leave the rat race where people are “too busy to give a damn these days about family, friends and neighbors.” Like the previous two songs, the tempo keeps it energizing despite its bleak outlook. As I’m fond of pointing out, country songs can be sad without being downers!
Lacey and Neumann set out to demonstrate their range on this EP, and they succeeded. Taken together with Moonshine, Bootleggin’ at the Flower Shoppe shows that this duo and their band are capable of going full-on country as well as mastering a variety of other Americana sounds and styles. I’m excited to see these songs performed live later this month!
Carol Roth. Photo credit: Dan Lee.
Carol Roth is a full-time marketing copywriter and the primary music journalist and social media publicist for Adventures in Americana. In addition to studying the guitar and songwriting, Carol’s additional creative side hustle is writing self-proclaimed “trashy” novels under the pseudonym T.A. Berkeley!
