Description
This is Steve and Kristi Nebel’s 1998 CD. It was started in Longbranch, WA, and finished in Tacoma, WA in 1997-98. The ever-tasteful, stellar guitar backup of the late David Rae makes its way into several tunes here. He was an integral part of the sound of Ian and Sylvia. Rick Ruskin’s unmistakable guitar backs other songs on this project as well. This is one of the more produced projects in the catalog of Icebird Records CD’s showing talents of a number of Pacific Northwest instrumental luminaries.
1. The Crow
2. Birds of Winter
3. Crying In Your Sleep
4. Johnny Really Fell
5. Love Is
6. Musharoom
7. I’ll Be Fine
8. Sunny Day
9. Big Floppy Hats
10. Rainbow Alley
11. Peace With The Night
12. Long, Long 100 Years
13. Gnat Lakes
14. Masquerade Composer
15. Papa’s Playing With a Blues Band
SteveKristi –
Steve & Kristi Nebel
Birds of Winter
“Folky in a folk-rock sort of way, this duo delivers some beautiful mellow
tracks that call to mind early Jackson Browne. The melodies have that
quality of sounding familiar without being copied directly. There are some
more up-tempo numbers, but I’m drawn to the slower tunes with the more
reflective lyrics. The slower, minor key songs also feature tasteful
playing from friends of the duo, and shows off how far a song can go with a
few well played instruments. I can recommend this album to anyone with an
ear for folk music as it bloomed into the folk-rock-singer-songwriter genre
as it did in the early seventies. Not to imply that this disc’s strength
lies only in “retro-ness”, it’s just the best source I can think of to
compare it to to give you an idea of what kind of gentle gems reside on
this album.” [MEDIUM: CD. CONTACT: Steve Nebel – Kristi Nebel, Icebird Record
Co., PO Box 5764, Tacoma, WA 98415, USA; PHONE: 253-573-1504; EMAIL:
–Reviewed by
Kevin Slick 6/2/99.Gajoob Magazine
SteveKristi –
“Folker Das Musicmagazin” July-August 1998
“Classic folksongs about love, nature, and harmonious co-existence of humanity presented by Steve & Kristi Nebel in their CD Birds of Winter. Carefully selected instrumentation with bas, rhythm guitar, and just enough songs supplemented by keyboards, drums, piano, and harp.”
SteveKristi –
“How did this hard working local group have time to record a CD? Birds of Winter is the best of Steve and Kristi to date. Mostly about birds, or with birds in the titles or in the lyrics, or leaving images of birds in your head, or simply sung like a bird, this flock of 15 songs is endearing and sometimes surprising. All songs are sung by Steve & Kristi backed by their signature guitar (Steve) and bass (Kristi). A few other locals join the brood: David Rea, Mike Nelson, Jeff Tassin, Joe DeBenedictis, Rick Ruskin, David Michael, Andy Rebsamen, and Robbie Morshed all lend a hand – or two – to make this recording a pleasure to the ear. From “Musharoom”, an impression of a Pike Place marketer, to the reminiscences of a grandmothers “A Long, Long 100 Years”, the album soars from fun to faith, from fancy to finality. The Birds of Winter will take you right into spring. Nicki De