Rising Stars: Meet Amanda Wilson and Dave Devlin

Today we’d like to introduce you to the duo Little Red Birds, comprised of members Amanda Wilson and Dave Devlin

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Amanda: Dave and I met while playing on the Yacht Club Beverage House Adult Kickball team in 2019. After both performing live music and live painting on separate occasions, we decided it would be awesome to join forces and bring the audience something new!

We got an incredible response from our first show as a duo at Yacht Club, and from then on we decided that we had to keep it going. We are now performing almost every weekend together bringing audiences all around the sights and sounds of Little Red Birds.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Dave: Considering that we started a band during a pandemic, it has been surprisingly smooth sailing. In the beginning, we took the downtime to really do our homework to get to know a lot of the potential places in the area to play. We developed some great relationships with breweries, restaurants, and seasonal events in the area. Because of that, once everything started opening back up we already had a full schedule playing multiple shows each weekend. We are now performing further out too such as Williamsburg, VA recently, and have possible plans for Pittsburgh and Richmond later this year as well as NYC, DC, Ocracoke Island, and Florida in spring 2022.

Amanda: Along the way, we have worked through trial and error to figure out the kinks, but all in all it’s helped us grow to give the audience a one-of-a-kind experience every time. We are also constantly pushing each other to improve at what we do, with a creative twist of course. Dave is the idea man, always brainstorming the next big thing and I tend to figure out how to make his ideas happen.

Our newest addition is a projection screen to cast the painting onto for larger crowds to see from a distance! Dave and I both have laid-back personalities so it’s pretty easy to just sit back and have fun with all of the possibilities that can come from bringing live music and painting together as an immersive experience, and we can’t wait to see where it leads us!

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Dave: We are combining sight and sound to bring a combination of stimuli to people’s senses, as a true duo rather than as separate entities. We really aim for a fun living room vibe to draw people in and keep them comfortable there in the atmosphere that we create. We’ve gotten to play some great places in the last year, including the ArtSpace museum downtown which was a really fitting place for us to be. We were even featured on the news!

We recently played our first wedding, and being part of someone’s best day is an awesome feeling. Part of what we do is read the room that we’re playing and adjust accordingly- from a small room to an outdoor amphitheater changes the scope and feel, so we switch up both the art and music that we create.

We’re proud of our progress thus far and we’ve got some really cool projects on the horizon, including a collaborative concept album of music and art.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Dave: First and foremost, we have to shout out our friends and family- Amanda’s husband Anthony and my wife Kayla, and our parents. They have kept us grounded and organized, helped with equipment setup and teardown, and been by our sides through gigs and planning sessions alike.

Secondly, we really want to thank the venues that have given us a shot, especially Yacht Club Beverage House for being the birthplace of Little Red Birds and giving us our initial show. Last but not least a big thank you to local businesses Broadsides and Brews and Wake Skincare for donating samples and gift certificates to our prize packages for our silent auctions and raffles.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.littleredbirdsnc.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/littleredbirdsnc
• Facebook: facebook.com/littleredbirds
• Other: https://linktr.ee/littleredbirds

Image Credits
Anna Ryabtsov and Troy Pittman