The road is where the heart is for Virginia-based folk and Americana band If Birds Could Fly, traveling across the East Coast in their van and embarking on trips as far as Texas this fall.

“We travel all the time — even when we’re off — just because we’re so used to being on the road,” Brittany Carter said.

“When the van’s broken down my mom lets us use the SUV,” Andrew Carter said backstage with a smile.

The group headlined its second gig at The Thought Lot this year, which also hosted two local acts, one with a rock-’n’-roll vibe and the other with a classic singer-songwriter feel.

The night kicked off with a Gettysburg band, Daniel James & The Blue Collar Special, and its unique blend of Americana and rock-’n’-roll music.

The group, which had recently been in a car accident, played a great opening set despite having some band members watching from off-stage.

A couple of the band members apologized after their set for being “loud” during a show that consisted of mostly acoustic music.

Kevin Neidig performed second, showcasing the intense guitar work that has made him a local favorite. Neidig even pulled out a ukulele late in his set for a folk sing-along with the audience, which led to many laughs and cheers from the crowd as they were encouraged to yell the words “pants” and “pockets” back to Neidig throughout the song.

The duo of Andrew and Brittany Carter, also known as If Birds Could Fly, now have a touring backing band featuring percussion and bass, which allows Brittany to focus on her vocals for the entire show. Saturday night’s concert at The Thought Lot, a venue that is a favorite of the duo, was the first show for the newly-formed full band.

Brittany and Andrew took to the stage like veterans who have seen a lot over the course of their career, which has landed them on tours with a couple of big-name country artists. The group has seen its fair share of strange moments during shows, including marriage proposals gone wrong and no-holds-barred barroom fights breaking out in the middle of sets. The latter occurring at the band’s album release party in Tennessee three years ago.

“It happens all the time at our shows. We’re kind of like a metal band,” Brittany said jokingly backstage before the show.

“We’re pretty much the most hardcore folk-indie band you’ll ever hear,” Andrew added sarcastically.

The duo are as fun and carefree in their show as they are backstage, cracking jokes and making fun of each other.

At one point during the duo’s set, Brittany, who is married to Andrew, turned and made a comment about how she was drunk the first 500 times they hung out.

Lyrically, the duo is a powerhouse of emotion, exuberance and musical sound with Andrew’s impressive old-school folk guitar work and the precision of the new backing band. Brittany’s southern accent and singing voice soared during the band’s set at The Thought Lot, which treated audience members to great new original music as well as old favorites, and a stripped down cover of “Sweet Child O’ Mine.”

The group made a small room venue feel like a much larger show by playing to the crowd and making the show work perfectly in their favor.

The duo is consistently hard at work on new music, writing on the road and always looking to test a new song on an audience. Much of the music performed Saturday night was new songs the group is hoping to record sometime this fall for its sophomore album.

“If you want to hear new songs by us, come to every like third show, because we’re always writing and we’ll probably write a song about tonight eventually,” Andrew said. “I’d say 90 percent of our songs are true,” he added.

By the end of the night, If Birds Could Fly had put on a great show that proved that the group belongs on stage for many years to come.

The group is a great up-and-coming folk band and deserves more recognition for its outstanding work.

If you would like to see If Birds Could Fly on tour, check out the group’s Facebook page for more information about coming events.

The next Thought Lot show will be All We Do is Work OVERTIME, presented by Left Coast Media on Oct. 24.

More information for the show can be found at thethoughtlot.com. 

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