Byrdi - Birjing
The Norwegians have recorded this album with the participation of various guest musicians including percussionist Kjell Braaten, who has performed live with WARDRUNA among other bands, and Mathias Gyllengahm (UTMARKEN, NORRSINNT) on nyckelharpa (keyed fiddle). "Byrjing" shows BYRDI in an almost intimate way and while their music may easily be labelled as "Nordic folk", the Norwegians foremost sound like themselves.

BYRDI were founded in the ancient town of Hov in Eastern Norway by Nash Rothanburg and Jørn Øyhus in the year 2012. Their debut album "Eventyr" was released in 2014 and has been described as a "wild and strange ritual". Two years later, the Norwegians had been joined by singer and songwriter Andreas Paulsen and started to work on their sophomore full-length. For the recording of "Ansur:Urkraft" (2017), the band used various locations in the mountains and woods of Eastern Norway.

"Ansur:Urkraft" created a buzz in the Nordic folk scene and earned the band (among others shows) two invitations to perform at the prestigious Midgardsblot Festival in Borre, Norway among the grave mounds of chieftains from the Viking age and even earlier periods. The fast rise of BYRDI is underlined by more than a million streams of their single "Solsnu", which was aptly first released on the day of winter solstice in 2018.

Having been joined by harpist Gulia Wyrd-Svartskog, BYRDI are now ready to spread their music and words to an even greater audience with "Byrjing".

BYRDI comment in their own words: "The creation of 'Byrjing' has been the most challenging musical journey that we have ever embarked upon", write the Norwegians. "We have been faced with energy draining and time consuming decisions as well as life-altering personal changes. Thefore 'Byrjing' is more than just another album for us. This record represents us as individuals on a path from one place to another. It is hardly surprising that the stories behind these songs are deeply personal. Yet words and music can also easily be understood universally as a projection of life itself that we all touch, feel, and experience."

Tracklist

1. Solsnu
2. Geirodd
3. Eg
4. Stein pa stein
5. Huldre
6. Heim
7. Byrdi
8. Byrjing