Blackbirds: Volume 1

This review and this podcast contain a content warning for violence against African Americans and discussions of same. The opening of the first episode is an emotional gut punch I won’t soon forget. It grabs you immediately and makes you feel raw, which is a difficult thing for a show to accomplish. The show follows an ensemble cast, the McCray family and others, as they go through their daily lives in the American south shortly before the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. The narration bl... more

Blackbirds is a must-listen! It is so easy to get lost in the story. The characters are engaging and very likeable . The narrator is amazing! She takes you back in time. You can almost imagine being there.

This is definitely a moving look into this black family’s life. I can’t wait for more! I wasn’t ready for it to end!

Take a listen - you’ll be glad you did!

This is a must-listen for every American. What an excellently written, produced, and performed audio play that brings listeners deep into the lives of a family in the Deep South. The narrator and the voice actors are incredible, moving, hilarious, and gripping. The writing is flawless and leaves you wanting more. The plot device surrounding the TV is brilliant. Listen to every episode!

Great story of a family in a past era with some mystery, romance, and tragedy. Vivid production, great cast, and a hypnotic female narrator with a unique style. Definitely stands out amongst today’s slate of Audio Drama

Blackbirds Vol 1 is story telling at at its best. The characters and story are more than interesting, they are friends with a message that you want to listen to now and later. You’ll be eager to listen to the episode. The story is timely and real…black families in the south lived and continue to live in a reality that is so dramatic it is challenging to see how they survive…and they DO survive! Congrats to Andre and Keena - Blackbirds is amazing!

This show is so moving, I was transported into the past!The voice actors are brilliant on their craft, you can't help but listen to the very 1st episode and now I'm hooked!

Blackbirds is absolutely captivating. I was very pleased with the performance of the actors who really gave it their all. Each scene was so vivid, that it often felt like I was there at that time and place observing that family. Blackbirds is a great piece of art and I know that a lot of love and attention was given to make it.

During a time when I felt numb, either due to an overly stimulated nervous system or due to lack of social emotional engagement…?#pandemiclockdown Whatever the case, this series awakens and moves emotionally. I felt every word. The storytelling is top-notch. The ambient sounds place you in the room, quite experiential, quite immersive. As someone who manages trauma, I look forward to more of this style of entertainment. This format allows the eyes/brain to rest, it also, re-awakens the brain’s a... more

You find yourself transported to another time and place in history, invested in the people who belong there. A great work of fiction brought to life with the help of truly talented voice actors.

The trials and tribulations of a Black family in the Deep South comes alive in this taught story from Andre Coleman. Beautifully sound designed and directed. Worth every minute. Looking forward to Vol. 2.

Black Birds is a wonderfully written audio series with some amazing voices. Each episode draws you in and makes you want to hear more. I can’t wait until Volume 2

Blackbirds is such a necessary story to be told and retold as long as there’s an audience, and I think there always will be. Telling this story in this format really brings it to life in such a classic way and helps the characters come alive so that the listener really feels their struggles, emotions, triumphs, and defeats, all while feeling transported into the story itself. In short, it breathes. So worth a listen whether you’re encountering this for the first time or revisiting it.

The narration is emotional and moving, and the performances are all wonderful - the voice acting really brings this family and their hopes and challenges to life. The historical setting is fully fleshed out with cultural and social detail, and great use of diegetic music. The writing deftly moves several storylines and incorporates a whole community, using something as commonplace to a modern listener as a color TV as a focal point for the action. The quiet scenes of characters getting to know e... more

The narration is emotional and moving, and the performances are all wonderful - the voice acting really brings this family and their hopes and challenges to life. The historical setting is fully fleshed out with cultural and social detail, and great use of diegetic music. The writing deftly moves several storylines and incorporates a whole community, using something as commonplace to a modern listener as a color TV as a focal point for the action. The quiet scenes of characters getting to know e... more

Blackbirds: Vol 1 is brilliant storytelling. The writing is engaging, smart, funny, honest, and emotional all at once. I love the imagery, character development, complexity, nuance and realism in the story. Cannot wait for the next season to find out what happens.