Molly Thomas & The Rare Birds

New SINGle

A COVID-19 2020 recording experience... This was a joint recording effort by each band member. Molly recorded in her home, Blue Print Studio. Rick Hirsch recorded electric guitars in his Studio H2O. John Keuler recorded bass and BG vocals in his home and John Milham recorded drums in his Green Roof Studios in Laurel, MS.

Notes from Molly:
This song was written during the COVID-19 lockdown from various conversations with myself taking comfort in the simple fact that in all chaos and seeming defeat, we will all be okay. I don’t intend to discount the many untimely deaths and severe illnesses resulting from this horrible virus. They cannot be ignored as we try to come together to understand. Something to consider throughout all of the world's experience this year is even in death and illness, those of us living must find peace by turning the volume down, resting, protecting each other in distancing, and being with loved ones — even by phone. Perhaps as we reflect on 2020 with gratitude that we were forced to go deeper inside ourselves to meet head-on such impending doom as, suffering, loss, hunger, unemployment, show cancellations, quarantines, hurricanes, fires, anxiety, etc., we may possibly see ourselves in a new light.

One more thing... I'd like to give a big THANK YOU to all of the health care-workers who have worked so diligently throughout this time. We pay homage to YOU!

Peace & Love,
Molly

Artwork by Laney Milham

latest news

“Molly’s songwriting is beautiful, haunting, and deeply personal; she crafts her songs from her own personal experience of love, loss and redemption… you feel every note with hypnotizing clarity.” - Scott Bottrell of Fairhope Living Magazine February 2021 Issue

I am happy to announce that our album, Honey's Fury, made several top charts for end of the year ratings for 2019... listed in the order in which they came in.

1.) Americana Highway Magazine's top 100, where we were #16
2.) Viola Krouse's Top 37 Releases of 2019 for Making a Scene Magazine
3.) Warren Kurtz's Fabulous Albums & Songs for Goldmine Magazine's top 20.
4.) The Song, "Laura" was a top 20 song for Goldmine Magazine
5.) Van's 10 Most Essential Records of 2019
6.) Favorite Album of the Year! 2019 READERS' CHOICE AWARDS for The Southland Music Line

Thank you ALL for your support and to these journalists who took the time to listen to our music. It makes me happy that you were touched by the songs.

Interview with Goldmine Magazine
GOLDMINE: I am enjoying your new album, Honey’s Fury. There is a variety of songs, instruments and a variety of approaches in your voice. Let’s start with your version of Jack Tempchin’s “Tumbleweed,” which I highlighted when we had a giveaway of Jack’s One More Song album in 2017. Your rendition reminds me of ‘70s Linda Rondstadt.

MOLLY THOMAS: That song really spoke to me when we were choosing songs for the album. I met Jack about two years ago when we did a show together. His manager sent me a stack of CDs and suggested this particular song. It was relevant to some things I was going through at the time. Jack likes our version and he was just inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame..... read more.
- Goldmine Magazine

10 new songs to know by Alabama musicians

"With talented Alabama Shakes singer Brittany Howard releasing her first solo material , this summer is off to a hot start for fans of Alabama music.
In addition to proven stars from the state like Howard and songsmith Jason Isbell - who’s been touring with Father John Misty and recording with Sheryl Crow - making national news, promising local music continues to bubble up here.
Below are 10 recently released songs to know, by bands and solo acts based in or from Alabama.
'The Ocean' Molly Thomas & The Rare Birds
Fairhope combo summons mystical-Americana vibes reminiscent of that Grammy-winning “Raising Sand” album Robert Plant and Alison Krauss did back in 2008."
- AL.com

"The Alabama foursome hits hard, too. Backed by Rick Hirsch (guitar), John Milham (drums), and John Keuler (bass), Thomas shines throughout the twelve tracks that appear on Honey’s Fury. The Rare Birds showcase their gritty chemistry, and Thomas effortlessly welcomes you into her turbulent yet gleefully inspiring world. The band truly is a rare combination of talent that works like a steady, well-oiled machine that won’t take no for an answer."
- Music & Mojitos

"Perfectly timed is the fattened notes & interplay of instruments on “Calling My Name.” Ms. Thomas asserts herself & the band supports her well. If today’s rock & roll burns the coal slow this effort is doused with starter fluid. Fiery like The Avett Brothers & The Mumfords. All good."
- Americana Highways

"Honey’s Fury delivers polished Americana, refined and elegantly sophisticated, along with the scrumptious violin and voice of Molly Thomas."

"A round bass line and glittering guitar accents inject the harmonics with intimacy and emotional commitment, especially evident on the stellar guitar solo, full of searing shadow-like hues."
- Rawckus Magazine

"Molly Thomas and The Rare Birds are purposeful. Every note and instrument choice serves the song in the best possible light.
I adore this album.
Molly's vocals are damn powerful and goosebumps worthy." - Viola Krouse
- Making a Scene

Alabama Kick Ass: Molly Thomas and the Rare Birds – “Calling My Name”
"WOW!!!!!! That’s all I can say. Take Melissa Ethridge and throw her in southern Alabama, and give her kick-ass tunes, and you get Molly Thomas and the Rare Birds. This is how Americana should sound; glistening guitars, pounding rhythm, bass riffs galore, and a beautiful voice that reaches out to the stratosphere. There is something Emmy-Lou Harrisish about Thomas and her band, comprised of Thomas on acoustic guitar and violin, Rick Hirsh on guitar, John Milham on drums, and John Keuler on bass. The four of them are all well acquainted with each other, and that makes an album about connections make so much sense. This is beautiful music. I’ve been listening non-stop." - Phil King
- Audio Fuzz

"Molly Thomas & the Rare Birds are premiering their brand-new song 'Sharona,' and its accompanying music video, exclusively for readers of The Boot. Press play above to hear the mournful, contemplative tune.
Despite partially sharing its name with the Knack's 1979 hit, 'Sharona' was actually inspired by a woman Thomas met. 'She'd fled from the dregs of New Orleans after [Hurricane] Katrina to Nashville, where I was living at the time," Thomas tells The Boot. "She had an immense impact on me, and all I wanted to do was take her home with me, hug her and help her get better.'
- The Boot

"Today, Wide Open Country is premiering the stunning "Tumbleweed," a cautionary tale that captures the despair of being in love with a rambler. Spacious and dreamlike, the song conjures up images of lonely travelers in a roadside diner somewhere in the desolate southwest."
- Wide Open Country

"The players match the sultry spirit of “I Wanna Live” with an irresistible bluesy churn as Thomas sings, “Got my best cotton dress on/ Stickin’ to my skin’/ Part of me is dressed for travelin’/ Part of me is dressed for sin.” In “Laura” Thomas indicts a woman who’s never measured up, but tempers that vivisection with encouragement that it’s not too late; that’s a tricky balance that the music buoys with the sunniness of ‘60s pop. “Thank You,” in which Thomas tenderly arranges the pieces of a broken marriage, becomes a semi-classical lullabye. In “Callin’ My Name,” the song that gives the album its title, the band brings chiming, pulsing rock energy to dreamlike poetry, creating a hallucinatory anthem."
- The Rogers Review

"Glide is thrilled to premiere “Calling My Name” (below) from Molly Thomas & The Rare Birds, a poetically graceful track with a rumbling rock enigma that recalls Patti Smith and Heartless Bastards. Thomas comes across as cross pollinator or rock history, combining the highly charged confessional and big hearted singer-songwriter rock of the 70’s."
- Glide magazine

Molly Thomas is unfiltered ‘south.’ She is the feel and the sound of the southern United States. In an America where food chains, homogenized broadcasting and department stores oppress the uniqueness of any time and place, Molly manages to sound untouched
and singular in her expression. She's vulnerable and stubborn while she honors the themes of loneliness, literature and that ethereal humidity that comes with the southern perspective.

~ Matthew Ryan