Maygen & The Birdwatcher

MBW_promo 2_Photo cred Brandon Lenzmeier.jpg

Woman [Maygen] with long blonde crimped hair, singing and dancing on stage with blue lighted background. She is wearing a floral printed cover up over a vintage t-shirt. She is wearing a multi-colored headband across her forehead.

Man [Noah] and Woman [Maygen] sitting on a stairway smiling. Noah is holding his right hand up to his chin in a 'thinking' type of position. He is wearing a dark brown brimmed hat, a jean jacket and jeans. Maygen is wearing a headband and red pants.

It’s been an extraordinary year for Maygen & The Birdwatcher, the Minneapolis Americana-folk-rock sextet that released their 2022 EP Bootleggin’ at the Flower Shoppe to critical and fan accolades.

Led by Maygen Lacey and fellow guitarist-singer Noah Neumann, Maygen & The Birdwatcher conceived Bootleggin’ at the Flower Shoppe as a companion piece to their innovative 2021 debut album Moonshine, which also garnered nominations from Midwest Country Music. Dubbed “stunning” by Americana UK, Moonshine heralded a band that can only keep growing. Bootleggin’ at the Flower Shoppe shows off the country side of a band with many facets—all of them based on their collective love of the folk, rock and Americana traditions they so creatively bend to their own purpose.

Adventures in Americana writes of the genre-bending group “capable of going full-on country, as well as mastering a variety of other Americana sounds.” They’ve gotten even more praise from the Midwest Country Music Organization, as Maygen & The Birdwatcher took home wins for Album of the Year and Americana Artist of the Year in 2023 at the annual awards show. This year the band has been nominated in the categories for the Entertainer of the Year and Music Video of the Year for the original song “Where Good Things Grow.”

Released in late 2023, the original song, “Where Good Things Grow” is a collaborative effort between the South Dakota Grassland Coalition and Maygen & The Birdwatcher. Directed by Emmy Award nominated filmmaker, Joe Dickie – Our Dakota Grasslands, Where Good Things Grow public service campaign aims to change that by making South Dakotans more aware of, and involved in, protecting and enhancing the health and function of Dakota grasslands.

With Nashville based Music Mecca writing “’Where Good Things Grow’ is a beautiful folk-fueled ballad chock full of classic acoustic guitar rhythms and stunning fiddle melodies, bolstered by lead singer Maygen Lacey’s rich vocals. Lines like “Take care of the land / It’ll take care of you / Tend to its roots / It’ll tend to yours too,” offer a simple reminder and message to the listener, and they’re delivered in a way that is both resonating and pleading.”

Maygen & The Birdwatcher’s original collection of songs amplify the sound of a tightly knit group that keeps its eye to the future while paying tribute to the legacy of American music. Along with Maygen and Noah, multi-instrumentalist Nik Pellinen, bassist Ethan Moravec, mandolinist-fiddler Jesse Moravec and drummer Peter Anderson lay down grooves and add their unique blend of styles—and plenty of hot licks.

Coupled with a stacked spring and summer of tour dates and a fresh forthcoming full album set to be released later this year, fans can look forward to a very fresh blend of bluegrass, country, folk and rock, and it could only come from Maygen & The Birdwatcher.