About

Former Birds began as the songwriting project of Jesse Zucker, as a way to write as a solo musician while traveling through all 48 contiguous states and several countries in a variety of somewhat-reliable vehicles.

While living in as many cities as the leases and subleases have allowed, Jesse refined his songwriting with a storyteller’s ear. Among the more impactful locations in which he lived are Philadelphia, Queens, Minneapolis, France, and the Hudson Valley. While traveling and refining his songwriting, Jesse taught creative writing, English as a second language, and college composition. He earned two masters degrees, including a MFA in Creative Writing.

2016’s Suitcase in Hand and 2017’s Life’s a Vacation are two lo-fi collections that were recorded entirely by Jesse in apartments, basements, attics, and cars.

In 2018, Jesse began to record with Matthew Molnar (producer of several Sunflower Bean records, member of Friends and Dead Nation). Jesse’s recording sessions in Brooklyn resulted in the October in New York EP in 2021 and The Broken Clock at Sundown in 2022.

In 2020, Jesse moved back to the Hudson Valley. It was here that the current version of Former Birds came to be.

Former Birds was recorded at Artfarm Studios in Accord, NY in 2024 and 2025, featuring Jesse Zucker on vocals, guitar and keys; Patrick Murphy on guitar and 12-string; Brandon Isles on drums and percussion; and Brendan White on organ and backing vocals.

A follow-up recording is expected later in 2026.