BirdSMITH is the first act on new label Waxwing distributed by Cargo Records. BirdSMITH is lead by lyricist and composer Tom Van Can, superbly supported by the vocals of Jade Danielle Williams. Tom seems to have the knack of writing songs that get play-listed on radio, particularly BBC Radio 2. With previous new acts and the current project BirdSMITH the first outings were Radio 2 playlisted - which hardly ever happens for an independent artist. “The First” by First Congress got the most spins for any debut record. BirdSMITH’s first single was on for an unprecedented 4 weeks. Radio Wales have also A-listed 6 of Tom Van Can’s compositions. On air comments include “ We love This” Steve Wright “I absolutely adore this track” Eleri Sion, Presenter, and public response has been overwhelming: “Absolutely spellbinding. The poetry…The composition…The arrangement…The chops of it all!! Been singing my wee heart out to this one.” TJ Harrington, YouTube. “Totally confused in the most wonderful of ways, sounds brand new and fresh but like a classic at the same time.” Garry Matthews, YouTube. “Our household is OBSESSED with Kiss It Better. It’s currently on Repeat and has been for the last couple of days. Great voice, fab guitar piece too, can’t wait to see what else you release.” Laura Soothill, YouTube. Tom attracts some of the best players in the country to work him to produce the rich and multilayered sound of BirdSMITH all played with real instruments and never sung with auto tune to create an authentic and moving sonic experience. BirdSMITH has been most often been compared to Fleetwood Mac, Jefferson Airplane but with a more modern rock edge of Beth Ditto’s Gossip and Tom is determined to never make retro replicas. BirdSMITH are fresh with a unique sound - collaborators include Mick Talbot (Style Council), Sean Genocky (Black Crows, Richard Ashcroft), Darren Beckett (Brandon Flowers), Matt Holland (Van Morrison) Simone Daley-Richards (Bree Runway, Michael Kiwanuka). ‘The last wedding I went to was in the summer before the pandemic - a couple of hundred guests in a beachfront bar/restaurant in Whitstable on a beautiful July Day. There were five generations there and certain songs got everyone on the dance floor - four year olds dancing in a charming way to their own internal sense of time - grandmas finding a half-time sense of gently cheeky grace - thirty somethings pogoing as forty somethings tried to keep up, others of a certain age dancing in pairs and circles until everyone sang in chorus with Billy Idol - “it’s a nice day for a White Wedding - it’s a nice day to start again”. I loved that sense of a piece of music bringing everyone in the room together in joyful exuberance. I vowed at that moment to take on the demanding challenge of writing a song that similarly pull every generation onto a wedding dance floor to boogie, bop, shimmy, slide and put aside inhibition and sing with collective love for life, living for love’ I love writing songs, starting with an urge, an enigmatic flavour you can almost, not quite taste, a single couplet, a whole three act story; there are many doors and dozens of keys. I have the blessing of working with some of our best players - keys sideman to Paul Weller and Roger Daltrey - Mick Talbot, bassist and string arranger Phil Donnelly, producer Dave Eringa who produces The Proclaimers and The Manics and singing alongside Jade Danielle Williams who takes my top lines and lyrics and wrings every drop of emotion in three minutes from a song that may have taken three weeks, three months, or three years to squeeze from my soul. Tom Van Can