Public Tracks

Tomorrow River - Instrumental

Release Date: 1/31/2023
Written by Erin Zindle
Performed and Recorded by Erin Zindle & The Ragbirds 
The Ragbirds are TJ Zindle, Shannon Wade and Loren Kranz
Produced and Engineered by Jamie Candiloro
Vocals recorded at Big Sky by Geoff Michaels
Ann Arbor, MI

Lyrics by Erin Zindle:

I'm happy 

When I don't think of you

And that's getting easier to do.

I'm writing a new story

And it has nothing to do with you

Out of the triage to the montage of the scenes of my life

As I'm getting it together

Out of the mind games to the reframe with a new name

I'm good and I'm only getting better

Cause you are not a part of my new story

You are not a part of my new story

I'm dancing around my diamond

Clearer and more dazzling than I've ever been

I'm building a new temple

And all of my friends are welcome in

Out of the triage to the montage of the scenes of my life

As I'm getting it together

Out of the mind games to the reframe with a new name

I'm good and I'm only getting better

Cause you are not a part of my new story

You are not a part of my new story

New Story (single)

New Story

Buy on BandCamp

Lyrics and music written by Carolyn Striho and Erin Zindle

Engineered by Geoff Michaels at Big Sky Recording (Ann Arbor, MI)
Mixed by Jamie Candiloro
Mastered by Greg Calbi - Sterling Sound 
Cover Art by Erin Zindle

Lyrics:
Are you starstruck singing with the birds of wonder
Are you day drunk sipping on the grace of thunder
As the waves are dancing in their secret circles
Don't you drown yourself in their games

In the haze of aching you become your shadow
But you can't stay hiding in your grief forever
There's a new path forward past the dumb-struck water
Once you give yourself a new name

Take your wooden crutches
Build yourself a bridge
Offer up your grudges
The ocean will forgive
When the tide is rising
Rise above it
Make your way across
to where your new life lives

When I find myself
I'll be the only witness
To the strength and power
Of my wild soul's fitness
All the bones and muscles
Of my heart are broken
But I made it here to the shore

Take your wooden crutches
Build yourself a bridge
Offer up your grudges
The ocean will forgive
When the tide is rising
Rise above it
Make your way across
to where your new life lives

You can't see it
From where you are
You can't feel it
From where you are
You can't trust it
From where you've been
But you'll never go back again

Take your wooden crutches
Build yourself a bridge
Offer up your grudges
The ocean will forgive
When the tide is rising
Rise above it
Make your way across
to where your new life lives

The Bridge

Written by Erin Zindle
ASCAP Ebirdlove Songs
Release Date: July 3, 2023
Performed by Erin Zindle & The Ragbirds
The Ragbirds are: TJ Zindle, (guitar) Shannon Wade (bass), Loren Kranz (drums) 
Produced by Jamie Candiloro
Engineered by Jamie Candiloro and Geoff Michaels (Big Sky Recording)
Mastered by Greg Calbi
Cover art: Erin Zindle (photo by Joe Gall)


Written as a note-to-self, Stay Behind The Wheel is a female-fronted, alternative folk/rock anthem burnished with country fiddle. The lyrics are full of wit and charm, with an empowering message and an upbeat tempo that’s perfect for any road trip. 

Produced by Jamie Candiloro (Ryan Adams, REM, Willie Nelson, Courtney Love) and mastered by Greg Calbi (Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, etc). 

Released as part of a series of new single releases scheduled around the cycles of the moon (with a full album planned in 2024).


Lyrics:
You were made of light and salt 
Everything you do is all your fault 
So get yourself some coffee and some shades
You’re the only driver now 
You’re the one who knows the way 

You control the radio 
Tune in to what you want to hear 
Don’t confuse the windshield 
For the rearview mirror 

Stay, stay behind the wheel 
This is not practice, no, this is real 
Your name is signed on the bottom of the deal 
So stay behind the wheel 

You’ve been a passenger too long 
Your trusted driver steered you wrong 
So when you’re ready to take back control 
There’s a way to anywhere you want to go 

Your body is a beautiful machine
So keep your windows open 
And keep your engine clean 

Stay, stay behind the wheel 
This is not practice, no, this is real 
Your name is signed on the bottom of the deal 
So stay behind the wheel 

Stay behind the wheel
Stay behind the wheel
Stay behind the wheel
Stay behind the wheel

Stay, stay behind the wheel 
This is not practice, no, this is real 
Your name is signed on the bottom of the deal 
So stay behind the wheel

Stay Behind The Wheel

Written by Erin Zindle
ASCAP Ebirdlove Songs
Release Date: August 1, 2023
Performed by Erin Zindle & The Ragbirds
Featuring: Jess Merritt on Background Vocals
The Ragbirds are: TJ Zindle, (guitar) Shannon Wade (bass), Loren Kranz (drums) 
Produced by Jamie Candiloro
Engineered by Jamie Candiloro and Geoff Michaels (Big Sky Recording)
Mastered by Greg Calbi
Cover art: Erin Zindle (photo by Elise Kutt, Mod Bettie Portraits)

______________________________________________

LYRICS

It’s such a dirty habit 
Always looking around     
Checking the quo of the status 
In Status Quo town
Keeping up with the rules 
Always being laid down
Tiptoeing inside the lines 
Being drawn on the ground

It’s an impossible dance 
It’s out of my control
But I came here for the music 
Where’s the rock and roll?

I built this city 
Now I’m repaving the streets 
‘Cause I am the only one walking 
On these two feet
So I cut the connection
For my own protection
Who are you to question
My insurrection
In this new regime 
I am the only police
I am the law and the order 
And I’m keeping the peace

I’ve been a good girl
I’m not a rule breaker
I mind my own business
I’m not a risk-taker
Yeah I can roll with the flow
I’m not one to rock the boat
All the ways that I have changed
Now I’ve got a rebel in my veins

(interlude - “oh oh oh oh”)

This could get ugly 
And I don’t even care
I’m calling out the lies 
I’m clearing the air 
It’s the subtle slipstream 
Keeps us stuck in our lives
It’s the dumbed down daydream 
That hypnotizes
You tricked me to trade my power 
For the safety of your little box
Now I’m gonna kick you the fuck out 
And I’m changing the locks

Yes I’m a good girl
But sometimes I’m a rule breaker
I’ve got my own business
I guess I’m a risk-taker
Yeah I can roll with the flow
Sometimes you gotta rock the boat
All the ways that I have changed
Now I’ve got a rebel in my veins

     
Oooh I don’t care what you think
Oooh  Doin it anyway
Oooh  I don’t care what you say
Ooooh  Anyway 

CHORUS 
Yes I’m good girl
But I can be a ballbreaker
I take care of my own business
Cause I’m a risk-taker
Yeah I can roll with the flow
But I know when to rock the boat
All the ways that I have changed
Now I’ve got a rebel in my veins
Yeah I’m still a good girl
Even if I’m a rule-breaker
I’ve got a kick-ass business
‘Cause I’m a money maker
I make my own flow
And I’m gonna rock this boat
All the ways that I have changed
Now I’ve got a rebel in my veins

(interlude - “oh oh oh oh” / Ah Ah Ah / Ooh Ooh Ooh”)

______________________________________________

Rebel In My Veins

Written by Erin Zindle
ASCAP Ebirdlove Songs
Release Date: September 14, 2023 (New Moon, National Sober Day)
Performed by Erin Zindle & The Ragbirds
The Ragbirds are: TJ Zindle, (guitar) Shannon Wade (bass), Loren Kranz (drums)
Produced by Jamie Candiloro
Engineered by Jamie Candiloro and Geoff Michaels (Big Sky Recording)
Mastered by Greg Calbi
Cover art: Erin Zindle

LYRICS:
You had to make it past the liquor store
To get to the Alano Club
You set out each day, war paint on your face
And the memory of someone you love

You had to go straight where the sidewalk turned
Count the feathers on the birds above
If you were gonna make it past the liquor store
To get to the Alano Club

You said “Grace is new every morning”
As you stared into your black coffee cup
Today you’re gonna make it past the liquor store
To get to the Alano Club

You had to make it past the liquor store
To get to the Alano Club
You set out each day, war paint on your face
And the memory of someone you love

Liquor Store

Written by Erin Zindle
ASCAP Ebirdlove Songs
Release Date: September 29, 2023 (Full Moon)
Performed by Erin Zindle 
Produced by Jamie Candiloro
Engineered by Jamie Candiloro
Mastered by Greg Calbi
Cover art: Erin Zindle (photo by Joe Gall)

Lyrics:
You’re easy on my eyes
I could look at you all day
Watch the sunset tame the shadows
As they move across your face
And everything is easy


You’re easy on my mind
I think of you all the time
Like a secret oasis
I’m escaping to inside
Where everything is easy

Haven’t we suffered enough?
In our complicated lives we’ve been crushed
We tied our ties, we made our cuts
We worked so hard, lost so much

Woah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah
Woah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah

You’re easy on my heart
I can breathe and be myself
Like you’ve known me all along
Like we came from somewhere else
Where everything is easy

Easy

Written by Erin Zindle
ASCAP Ebirdlove Songs
Release Date: November 27, 2023
Performed by Erin Zindle & The Ragbirds
The Ragbirds are: TJ Zindle, (guitar) Shannon Wade (bass), Loren Kranz (drums)
Horn Section arrangement written and performed by Ross Huff
(trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone, & french horn)
Produced by Jamie Candiloro
Engineered by Jamie Candiloro and Geoff Michaels (Big Sky Recording)
Mastered by Greg Calbi
Cover art: Erin Zindle

Written for Mary Beth & Tom Alban

LYRICS:
I remember how you danced
Like your hands could tell a story
You outshone all the sunflowers
In their summer glory
You sparkle with a charm
That could make a strawberry blush
With a smile that could disarm a soldier
You’re easy to love

All the doctors and the angels raise their eyebrows
To sing your praise
Through the valley of the shadow of prognosis
All those who gather round you are amazed
But none more than me
‘Cause I get to be the one to witness your miracle
I see it everyday
I get to be the one to witness your miracle
Your love will find a way

Our house has many rooms
You illuminate them all
Your spirit’s unconfined by the limits of the roof and walls
Blessed be the tie that binds
Blessed be the daily bread
In gratitude and wonder every day my life is blessed

All the doctors and the angels raise their eyebrows
To sing your praise
Through the valley of the shadow of prognosis
All those who gather round you are amazed
But none more than me (more than me)

‘Cause I get to be the one to witness your miracle
I see it everyday
I get to be the one to witness your miracle
Your love will find a way

Miracle

Written by Erin Zindle
ASCAP Ebirdlove Songs
Release Date: November 17, 2023 (New Moon / first day of National Trans Awareness Week)
Performed by Erin Zindle 
Produced & Engineered by Jamie Candiloro
Mastered by Greg Calbi
Cover art: Lane Zindle
TJ Zindle - (guitar) and Jordan Hamilton (cello)

LYRICS:
He was shooting a self-portrait
In a glass window looking on a starless world
The desert night was dark enough
To reflect back a boy who was once born a girl

He had outgrown the teenage skin
The first born baby of a Scorpio
Who was carried across America
To a neon paradise far from the snow

Camera Camera open your eyes
Capture your childhood as it passes by
You’ve seen so much that you shouldn’t have
And you keep on smiling for the photographs

He envied the old black cat
Who sleeps and never has to think or choose
Which bathroom door to open up
To suffer the least amount of abuse

Camera Camera open your eyes
Capture your childhood as it passes by
You’ve seen so much that you shouldn’t have
And you keep on smiling for the photographs

The photographer’s heart is a dark room where truth is exposed
Choosing which memories develop and which are disposed
It’s a harsh chemical - filter your life
With great self-control
Focus the light through a pinhole

Camera Camera open your eyes
Capture your childhood as it passes by
You’ve seen so much that you shouldn’t have
And you keep on smiling for the photographs
Camera Camera open your eyes
Capture your childhood as it passes by
You’ve seen so much that you shouldn’t have
And you keep on smiling for the photographs

Camera Camera

Written by Erin Zindle
ASCAP Ebirdlove Songs
Release Date: October 28, 2023 (Full Moon)
Performed by Erin Zindle 
Produced & Engineered by Jamie Candiloro
Recorded also in part at Big Sky Recording in Ann Arbor, MI
Mastered by Greg Calbi
Cover art: Erin Zindle (photo by Joe Gall)
TJ Zindle - guitar (e-bow) and Jordan Hamilton (cello)

LYRICS:

I told my songs to go away
I said “Nobody needs you, there are too many of you,
And no one will hear your quiet message in all this noise”

But the songs keep coming
They don’t give up so easily
The songs keep coming
With words of hope for me

I told my songs I wasn’t good enough 
I said “Find someone better who can sing you to the top of the world
Where you deserve to be”

But the songs keep coming
They don’t give up so easily
The songs keep coming
With words of love for me

I can’t stop these songs
Cause somebody needs them
Even if it’s just me and nobody else
Can sing my story

The songs keep coming 
They don’t give up so easily
The songs keep coming
They seem to have a plan to me
The songs keep coming
I hope they don’t give up on me
The songs keep coming
With words of love for me

Songs Keep Coming

Written by Dylan Charles and Erin Zindle
Horns and Strings Arranged by Ross Huff
Live at The Ark in Ann Arbor, MI - December 9, 2023
as part of the Ebird & Friends Holiday Show

Featuring: 
Ross Huff - trumpet
Tim Haldeman - sax
John "T-Bone" Paxton - trombone
Jona Vibrato - violin
Aaron Jonah Lewis - violin
Brad Phillips  - violin
Loren Kranz - piano
Shannon Wade - bass
Dan Piccolo - drums
Jon Brown - vibes/percussion

Recorded and Mixed by Mark Allen
Mastered by Tony Calabro

(c)2023 Dylan Charles Music / Erin Zindle
_______________________________

The sidewalks are overcrowded
Everywhere an endless line
There's simply no doubt about it
It's the holiday time
There's bound to be a long unanswered
List of wishes
Isn't it just another Christmas

Can you help me hang this holly?
String the colored lights up high
Take your focus off the folly
Of a world out of it's mind
I know you're not the kind 
Who sits around and reminisces 
Doesn't have to be just another Christmas

So tonight 
           (I'm listening)
Let's keep it light 
           (Maybe you're right)
I'd love to see things differently
Enjoy each other's company

I just can't get in the spirit
Don't want a partridge or a pear
I think you're gonna wanna hear it
There's carolers out on the stair
You and I could be singing, dancing, blowing kisses
Doesn't have to be just another Christmas

So tonight 
           (I'm listening)
Let's keep it light 
           (Maybe you're right)
I'd love to see things differently
Enjoy each other's company

The sidewalks are filled with shoppers
Buying gifts for ones they love
Toys and games, confetti poppers
Watching for reindeer up above
Back in the kitchen we're preparing
Our most favorite dishes
Doesn't have to be just another Christmas

Not Just Another Christmas

Good Christian Men Rejoice (Celtic Instrumental)

Since 2008, it has become a yearly tradition for The Ragbirds to present this unique family-friendly Holiday Show called "Ebird & Friends".  It happens in the middle of Michigan in the heart of December. The songs and artists change from year to year, but the spirit of the event is community and creativity and the show is unforgettable.  This sampler is a collection of songs recorded live at the shows over the last few years, featuring a variety of fabulous musicians, including Theo Katzman, Laith Al-Saadi, Jim Roll, Dave Boutette, Yorg Kerasiotis, Jenny Jones, members of The MacPodz, My Dear Disco, and many more. The MC is comedienne Shelly Smith.

Yule Log & Holly Berries (Celtic Instrumental)

Powerhouse vocalist Jess McCumons (The Understorey) performs a funky soulful version of this pop Christmas song, inspired by Warren Haynes arrangement.  Ebird & Friends Holiday Show 2013

Every Day Will Be Like A Holiday (Jess McCumons)

Off of 2012's upcoming album "Travelin' Machine"

Six Wheels

From "Travelin' Machine" due out January 1, 2012

The Bully

Little Drummer Boy (The Ragbirds)

Book of Matches

Onyame Kokroko

Following You - Flashclash Remix

I Feel Alright - 06/21/13 at Top of the Park, Ann Arbor MI

Led by dynamic, multi-instrumentalist Erin Zindle, The Ragbirds create music that is equally danceable, intelligent and vulnerable – a rare combination in an increasingly marketing-driven industry. Since 2005 they have gathered and maintained a passionate, grassroots fan base by continually reinventing themselves with an ever-evolving sound, while remaining rooted in the high-energy, world-inspired folk-rock that they have become known for.
A genre-bending hybrid of indie-pop melodies, global-infused beats, rock guitar riffs and folk sensibilities, this is music that comes to life on stage, leaving every listener in a higher place than when it began. The Ragbirds are constant travelers, impressed upon by a global consciousness, with lyrics that point to the daily paradox of intentionally cultivating hope in the midst of a crazed and jaded world. 
Like a mix tape made by a well-traveled friend, The Ragbirds music is diverse and foreign, yet somehow familiar. The voice at the front of The Ragbirds carries the freshness of the journey itself, and the lyrics point out the scenery like a friendly tour guide.
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BAND MEMBERS: Erin Zindle, TJ Zindle, Shannon Wade, Loren Kranz
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- Erin Zindle - vocals, violin, mandolin, accordion, banjo
- TJ Zindle - electric and acoustic guitar, vocals
- Shannon Wade - bass, vocals
- Loren Kranz - drum set, vocals
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Erin Zindle & The Ragbirds

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