Bird & Willow

Bird and Willow

Written by Tad Malone | Photographer by Daniel Garcia

birdandwillow.bandcamp.com

instagram: birdandwillow

Jared Kauk is a classically trained violinist, and his sister Shiloh learned to sing listening to the radio. Together this brother-sister folk-rock duo creates poignant, delicate melodies braced by lush orchestral soundscapes. To pay the bills, both brother and sister work day jobs: Jared is a violin and viola teacher, and Shiloh works at a coffeeshop. In the last year, Bird and Willow have made their presence known through internet releases and copious live shows around the area. This summer, they released their first extended play, Place to Land, which features brothers Bryan and Kevin Valko on bass and drums. As for the future, the brother-sister duo hope to embark on a West Coast tour and are currently writing songs for what will be their first full-length release in mid-2017.

“We started recording songs before we had a name or a plan or anything. We figured we’ve been playing these songs for awhile, so let’s try to make them into something bigger. And then when we named ourselves, we decided on Bird and Willow. Those are the cross streets in Willow Glen where we were both born. We could have used just our names or whatever, but I think Bird and Willow is significant because a lot of our songs tell stories about our lives and reflect the place where we come from.”