Andrew Bird

American musician, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist (born 1973) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Andrew Wegman Bird (born July 11, 1973) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. His albums have spanned various genres including swing music, indie rock, and folk music. He is primarily known for his unique style of violin playing, accompanied by loop and effect pedals, whistling, and vocals.

Born
Andrew Wegman Bird

(1973-07-11) July 11, 1973 (age 53)
Lake Forest, Illinois, U.S.
GenresIndie rock[1]
Occupations
  • Musician
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • whistler
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • violin
  • guitar
  • whistling
Quick facts Background information, Born ...
Andrew Bird
Bird performing in 2022
Bird performing in 2022
Background information
Born
Andrew Wegman Bird

(1973-07-11) July 11, 1973 (age 53)
Lake Forest, Illinois, U.S.
GenresIndie rock[1]
Occupations
  • Musician
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • whistler
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • violin
  • guitar
  • whistling
Years active1992–present
Labels
Spouse
Katherine Tsina Bird
​
​
(m. 2010)​
Websiteandrewbird.net
Signature
Close

In the 1990s, he sang and played violin in several jazz ensembles, including Squirrel Nut Zippers and Kevin O'Donnell's Quality Six. He went on to start his own swing ensemble, Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire, which released three albums between 1998 and 2001. Weather Systems (2003) was his first solo album after Bowl of Fire disbanded, and it marked his departure from jazz music into indie music. Bird's 2019 album My Finest Work Yet was nominated for "Best Folk Album" at the 2020 Grammy Awards. He has collaborated with various artists, including The Handsome Family, Dosh, Fiona Apple, Madison Cunningham, and Nora O'Connor.

Bird appeared as Dr. Stringz in a 2007 episode of Jack's Big Music Show.[2] In 2010, he appeared on a TED Talk performing his music.[3] He wrote and whistled "The Whistling Caruso" for The Muppets movie in 2011, and composed the score for the television series Baskets, released in 2016. In 2019, Bird was cast in the fourth installment of Fargo, playing Thurman Smutny.[4]

Biography

Early life and Bowl of Fire (1973–2002)

Andrew Bird was born in Lake Forest, Illinois,[5] and raised in the North Shore of Chicago.[6] He was raised Catholic, attending the Church of St. Mary in Lake Forest and attending Sunday school until he was "effectively kicked out [...] for mocking God." He is now a lapsed Catholic.[7]

Bird's mother took him to violin lessons as a child and he trained in the Suzuki method starting at the age of four.[8] His mother also learned how to play the violin from these lessons. He learned how to whistle from his grandmother at age 6 and learned bird-calls throughout his youth.[9][10] He started taking violin seriously when he was around 13.[8] Bird didn't learn how to read sheet music until high school, learning originally by ear.[6]

Bird attended Interlochen Arts Camp in his youth.[8] He graduated from Lake Forest High School in 1991[11] and from Northwestern University with a bachelor's degree in violin performance in 1996.[12] That same year he self-released his first solo album, Music of Hair.[13] This album pays tribute to folk traditions, as well as jazz and blues.[14] Following this, his initial commercial exposure came through collaborative work with the band Squirrel Nut Zippers, appearing on three of their albums (Hot, Sold Out, and Perennial Favorites) between 1996 and 1998.[15]

Bird released Thrills on Rykodisc in 1998 with his group Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire,[16] shortly followed by a second album, Oh! The Grandeur, in 1999.[17] Both albums were heavily influenced by folk, jazz, and swing, with Bird primarily on violin as well as providing vocals.[18][19] Bowl of Fire featured musicians from Bird's hometown of Chicago, including Kevin O'Donnell, Joshua Hirsch, Jon Williams, Nora O'Connor, Andy Hopkins, Jimmy Sutton, Colin Bunn, and Ryan Hembrey.[citation needed] During this period, Bird was a member of the jazz group Kevin O'Donnell's Quality Six, for which he was the lead singer and violinist and contributed to arrangements and songwriting for Heretic Blues (Delmark, 1999) and Control Freak (Delmark, 2000) (both albums were produced by Raymond Salvatore Harmon).[20]

In 2001, Bowl of Fire released their third album, The Swimming Hour. It featured a mixture of styles, from zydeco influences to more straightforward rock. Bird has referred to it as his "jukebox album."[21] Although gaining critical praise,[22] the band failed to attain commercial success or recognition, playing to audiences as small as 40 people. In 2002, Bird was asked to open for a band in his hometown of Chicago, but fellow Bowl of Fire members were unavailable for the date. Bird performed the gig alone, and the solo show was a success.[23]

Early solo career (2003–2005)

Andrew Bird in concert in 2005.

Bowl of Fire unofficially disbanded in 2003,[24] and Bird reinvented himself as a solo artist. His two subsequent albums were released on Righteous Babe Records. 2003's Weather Systems (originally released on Grimsey Records)[25] features the tracks "Skin" and "I", early versions of songs that would later become "Skin Is, My" (The Mysterious Production of Eggs) and "Imitosis" (Armchair Apocrypha).[citation needed]

The Mysterious Production of Eggs (2005) continued a progression towards an indie–folk sound, featuring layered samples of sound constructed using multitrack recorders and loop pedals.[26] As his sound changed, Bird made increasing use of guitar, glockenspiel, and whistling in his songwriting, in addition to his traditional violin and vocals.[27]

Bird is noted for improvising and reworking his songs during live performances;[28] he has a series of self-released live compilations entitled Fingerlings, Fingerlings 2, Fingerlings 3, and Fingerlings 4, the first of which was released in 2002.[13] Each Fingerlings EP was released prior to a studio album, and presented a mixture of live performances from different shows, including old tracks, covers, and previously unreleased songs, some of which have since appeared on studio albums. Fingerlings 2 provided Bird with a boost in recognition in 2004 when it was named album of the month by Mojo.[29] Fingerlings 3, released in October 2006, also featured studio outtakes.[30]

In 2005, collaborator Dosh joined Bird's lineup, adding percussion and keyboards.[31][32] Jeremy Ylvisaker was later added to the group on bass and backup vocals.[33]

Signed to Fat Possum Records (2006–2011)

Bird performing at the 2007 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival

In September 2006, Bird signed to Fat Possum Records, and in March 2007 he released his third post-Bowl of Fire album, Armchair Apocrypha.[34] The album was recorded in collaboration with electronic musician Dosh, and includes a track composed by Dosh (with lyrics by Bird) entitled "Simple X". This song first appeared without Bird's lyrics as "Simple Exercises" on Dosh's 2004 release Pure Trash. The album was produced by Ben Durrant and also featured Haley Bonar and Chris Morrissey.[35] The album went on to sell over 100,000 copies.[36]

During promotion of Armchair Apocrypha, Bird made his network television debut on April 10, 2007, performing "Plasticities" on the Late Show with David Letterman.[37] He also appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on June 14, 2007, performing "Imitosis".[38] These appearances were accompanied by a tour, which ended with sell-out performances at the Beacon Theatre and the Orpheum Theatre.[13]

In January 2007, Bird made an appearance on the Noggin television network's Jack's Big Music Show, playing the part of Dr. Stringz. Bird sang a brief song called "Dr. Stringz", written specially for the show. He often plays it live as an introduction to the song "Fake Palindromes".[2][39]

On May 20, 2007, National Public Radio aired a live concert by Bird from Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club.[40] He also worked with Reverb, a non-profit environmental organization, for his 2007 spring tour.[41]

Five of his songs – "Banking on a Myth", a medley of "I" and "Imitosis", "Skin", and "Weather Systems" – have been licensed for use by Marriott Residence Inn.[42]

From 2008 to 2013, Bird contributed to "Measure for Measure", a New York Times blog in which musicians wrote about their songwriting process.[43]

In November 2008, he appeared in the second series of Nigel Godrich's From the Basement alongside Radiohead and Fleet Foxes.[44]

Bird's fifth solo album, Noble Beast, was released on January 20, 2009, and contained fourteen new songs.[13] "The Privateers" is a re-imagining of a song entitled "The Confession" from 1999's Oh! The Grandeur.[45] Noble Beast has been met with generally favorable reviews, receiving a score of 79 out of 100 from Metacritic.[46]

In 2009, he contributed a cover of the song "The Giant of Illinois" to the HIV/AIDS benefit album Dark Was the Night, produced by the Red Hot Organization.[47] On May 11, 2009, Bird released the EP Fitz and the Dizzy Spells. It contains "Fitz and the Dizzyspells" from Noble Beast, as well as other songs from that album's recording sessions.[48] He also did a La Blogothèque performance at a house party in Paris in 2009, collaborating with St. Vincent.[49]

In 2010, Bird recorded with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, contributing vocals and violin on a cover of "Shake It and Break It".[citation needed] In August 2010, Bird contributed a charity T-shirt to the Yellow Bird Project to raise money for the Pegasus Special Riders Fund, which provides therapeutic horse riding activities for adults and children with special needs.[50]

Break It Yourself (2011–2015)

In late 2011 Bird signed to the record label Mom + Pop Music.[citation needed] Bird's first release for the label was the soundtrack to the film Norman, which included his original score as well as songs by other artists. Bird sequenced the soundtrack to flow as a stand-alone album rather than a compilation of music from the film.[51]

In 2011 Andrew Bird: Fever Year, a feature-length concert documentary on Bird's year-long tour, had its world premiere at Lincoln Center[52] with the New York Film Festival.[53] The film's festival-only run[52] closed in 2013 after screening in over ninety international festivals and winning nine awards.[citation needed][54] Fever Year depicts Bird and his band during the final months of a tour during which he reportedly suffered from constant fever.[55]

In March 2012, Bird released the album Break it Yourself, the follow-up to 2009's Noble Beast.[56]

In September 2012, Bird announced Hands Of Glory, a companion EP to Break it Yourself.[57] The album was released on October 30.[58]

In 2014, Andrew Bird's song "Pulaski at Night" was featured in the second-season premiere episode of Orange Is the New Black.[59] "Pulaski at Night" was also featured in the first season of Paolo Sorrentino's The Young Pope.[60]

On June 10, 2014, Andrew Bird released his album Things Are Really Great Here, Sort Of..., an album of covers of The Handsome Family and Bird's first record that does not contain any of his own compositions.[61]

Are You Serious (2016–2018)

Andrew Bird at Austin City Limits Music Festival in 2016

On April 1, 2016, Bird released his tenth solo album, Are You Serious, with Loma Vista Recordings. The album featured guest vocals from Fiona Apple and includes a reworked version of Bird's earlier track, "Pulaski at Night", renamed "Pulaski".[62]

Andrew Bird toured in support of Are You Serious through much of 2016 and 2017.[63]

He appeared in episode 14 of the Hulu series The Path on February 8, 2017.[64]

He wrote and performed the soundtrack to Lynn Shelton's 2017 film Outside In.[65]

On November 2, 2018, he released the single "Bloodless" backed with "Capital Crimes".[66]

My Finest Work Yet (2019–present)

On March 22, 2019, Bird released My Finest Work Yet via Loma Vista Recordings. Produced by Paul Butler and Bird, the album was recorded live at Barefoot Studios in Los Angeles,[67] emulating the production and sound of mid-20th century jazz recordings engineered by Rudy Van Gelder.[68] My Finest Work Yet was nominated for the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Folk Album.[69]

In 2019, Andrew Bird was cast in the fourth installment of Fargo, playing, "a character, written specifically for him, named 'Thurman Smutney'."[4]

In 2020 he was featured in an episode of Meditative Story about the musical turning point in his life that led up to making Weather Systems, scored with original music.[70]

On October 30, 2020, Bird released Hark!, his first full-length Christmas-themed album.[71][72][73] Six songs from the album initially appeared on an EP, also titled Hark!, which was released digitally in November 2019.[74]

On March 5, 2021, Bird released These 13, a collaborative album with Jimbo Mathus.[75]

On June 3, 2022, Bird released Inside Problems via Loma Vista Recordings. The album was produced by Mike Viola and recorded live by Bird with his four-piece band. Additional vocal overdubs were provided by Madison Cunningham.[76] The same month, Bird started on the Outside Problems tour co-headlining with Iron & Wine, performed at outdoor venues across the United States.[77]

Bird collaborated with Cunningham again in 2024 on a tribute album titled Cunningham Bird—a track-by-track cover of the album Buckingham Nicks (1973) by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks with new harmonies and arrangements.[78][79]

In 2026, Bird recorded a song titled "Need Someone" for the medical drama The Pitt, alongside series composer Gavin Brivik.[80]

Bird celebrated the 20th anniversary of The Mysterious Production of Eggs with the Britten Sinfonia conducted by Jacomo Bairos at the Barbican, London, on February 28, 2026.[81]

Influences

Growing up, Bird was influenced by classical music, Irish tunes, bluegrass, and English and Scottish folk music.[82][83] His early jazz influences were Johnny Hodges, Lester Young, and Fats Waller.[83][84] His classical influences include Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and Béla Bartók.[85] Other influences included swing and calypso.[86]

Andrew Bird has made several covers of songs by Americana band The Handsome Family, including "When The Helicopter Comes" on Hands of Glory, "Tin Foiled" on Fingerlings 3, and "Don't Be Scared" on Weather Systems.[87][88][89] His album, Things Are Really Great Here, Sort Of... is a ten-song cover album of their music.[90] He also has a personal friendship with the duo.[91]

Instruments and gear

One of Bird's primary instruments is a violin that he acquired when he was 16. His "first serious violin" was custom made by a Polish luthier in Chicago, and Bird had to audition to be allowed to play it.[92] In 2017, following the release of Are You Serious, he commissioned Peter Seman to build a five-string violin. The custom instrument features a lower C string (giving it the range of a viola), has a scroll that bends backwards, and has no corners.[93]

For looping, Bird uses two Line 6 DL4 delay pedals: one for rhythmic pizzicato, and the other for bowed strings. The DL4 can also slow down and speed up loops, lowering or raising the pitch of a recording by an octave in the process. This feature occurs in many of Bird's songs, as well as live performances.[94] He also uses an octave pedal to give the violin the range of a bass.[5]

He began using loop pedals to compensate for performing alone on stage, but later found that looping helped him to "embrace repetition," and compose his songs in a more straightforward manner, since he felt his writing style was too chaotic.[95]

Band members and associated acts

The Andrew Bird Trio, featuring Ted Poor and Alan Hampton, in 2024

Bird does not play with a regular band, and his personnel changes with each album. However, some musicians have appeared on several different albums and performed with Bird on multiple tours.

  • Dosh – drums, electric piano. Dosh has provided drumming, keyboard, and loops for Armchair Apocrypha and Noble Beast,[96] as well as samples of his own music.[citation needed]
  • Alan Hampton – bass guitar, standup bass, guitar, backup vocals. Hampton first appeared on Hands of Glory in 2012, and has gone on to perform with Bird on Things Are Really Great Here, Sort Of..., Are You Serious, My Finest Work Yet, and Sunday Morning Put-On.[97] Hampton also performed bass for the Bowl of Fire's reunion concert in 2018.[98]
  • Tift Merritt – vocals and guitar on Hands of Glory as well as Things Are Really Great Here, Sort Of...[99]
  • Nora O'Connor – backing vocals between The Swimming Hour (2001) and Break It Yourself (2012).[citation needed]
  • Kevin O'Donnell – drums, percussion, electric piano. O'Donnell met Bird at Northwestern University, played drums in Bird's first band, Charlie Nobody,[100] was the lone consistent member through all Bowl of Fire lineups, and played on all of Bird's albums from 1996's Music of Hair through 2005's Mysterious Production of Eggs (with an additional appearance on one track from Armchair Apocrypha). After ceasing to be the full-time drummer in Bird's bands, O'Donnell backed Bird again on the Hands of Glory and Are You Serious tours, and collaborated on the scores to the film Norman and the FX TV series Baskets. Bird appeared in O'Donnell's jazz ensembles, Kevin O'Donnell's Quality Six and Kevin O'Donnell's National Quartet.[citation needed]
  • Ted Poor – drums on Are You Serious, My Finest Work Yet, and Sunday Morning Put-On.[101][102]
  • Jeremy Ylvisaker – guitar and vocals between 2007 and 2012.[citation needed]

Hands of Glory

Originally "supposed to be a lark, kind of a between records thing,"[95] the Hands of Glory was an old-time band started by Andrew Bird. The group toured and recorded one eponymous album in 2012, as well as the cover album Things Are Really Great Here, Sort Of... in 2014.[citation needed]

  • Andrew Bird – vocals, violin, guitar, whistling, glockenspiel, loops
  • Tift Merritt – vocals, guitar
  • Alan Hampton – bass, guitar, vocals
  • Eric Heywood – pedal steel
  • Kevin O'Donnell – drums

Personal life

Andrew Bird lives in Los Angeles with his wife, fashion designer Katherine Tsina Bird, and their son.[103][104]

Awards

More information Year, Association ...
Accolades for Andrew Bird
Year Association Category Nominated work Result
2017 Grammy Awards Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical[105] Are You Serious Nominated
2020 Grammy Awards Best Folk Album[106] My Finest Work Yet Nominated
2026 Primetime Emmy Awards Original Music and Lyrics[107] "Need Someone" Nominated
Close

Discography

Studio albums

More information Title, Album details ...
List of albums, with selected details and chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales
US
[108]		 US
Rock
[109]		 US
Folk
[110]		 FRA
[111]		 NLD
[112]		 UK
[113]
Music of Hair
  • Released: 1996
  • Label: Grimsey Records
 — — — — — —
Thrills
with Bowl of Fire		 — — — — — —
Oh! The Grandeur
with Bowl of Fire
  • Released: August 24, 1999
  • Label: Rykodisc
 — — — — — —
The Swimming Hour
with Bowl of Fire		 — — — — — —
Weather Systems
  • Released: April 1, 2003
  • Label: Grimsey Records
 — — — — — —
Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs — — — 93 — —
Armchair Apocrypha 76 21 — 124 — —
Noble Beast 12 3 — 62 64 —
Break It Yourself 10 3 1 137 39 100
Hands of Glory 52 15 5 — — —
Things Are Really Great Here, Sort Of...
  • Released: June 3, 2014
  • Label: Wegawam Music
 — — 12 — — —
Echolocations: Canyon
  • Released: February 3, 2015
  • Label: Wegawam Music
 — — — — — —
Are You Serious 50 8 1 134 — —
Echolocations: River
  • Released: October 6, 2017
  • Label: Muffet Music
 — — — — — —
My Finest Work Yet 141 26 4 117
[116]		 — —
Hark! — — — — — —
These 13
with Jimbo Mathus		 —[A] — — — — —
Inside Problems —[B] — — — — —
Outside Problems
  • Released: July 21, 2023 (digital), November 17, 2023 (physical)
  • Label: Loma Vista
 — — — — — —
Sunday Morning Put-On
  • Released: May 24, 2024
  • Label: Wegawam Music
 — — — — — —
Cunningham Bird
with Madison Cunningham
  • Released: October 18, 2024
  • Label: Wegawam Music, Verve
 — — — — — —
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
Close

Companion album

Live albums

  • Fingerlings (2002, Grimsey Records)
  • Fingerlings 2 (2004, Grimsey)
  • Fingerlings 3 (2006, Grimsey)
  • Live at Austin City Limits Music Festival 2007: Andrew Bird (2007, Austin City Limits Music Festival)
  • Live in Montreal (2008, Bella Union)
  • Fingerlings 4 (2010, Wegawam Music Co.)

EPs

Singles

More information Year, Song ...
List of Singles With Chart Positions
Year Song Peak Chart Positions Album
US
AAA
[121]		 UK Rock
2005 "Sovay" — — Andrew Bird & the

Mysterious Production of Eggs

2006 "Fake Palindromes" — 14[citation needed]
2009 "Oh No" — — Noble Beast
"Fitz And The Dizzyspells" 17 —
2012 "Eyeoneye" — — Break It Yourself
"Desperation Breeds..." — —
"Three White Horses" — 79[citation needed] Hands of Glory
2014 "Anonanimal" — — Non-Album Single
2016 "Capsized" 6 — Are You Serious
"Left Handed Kisses

(feat. Fiona Apple)"

 — —
"Roma Fade" — —
"Valleys of the Young" — —
"Pulaski" — —
2018 "Bloodless" — — My Finest Work Yet
2019 "Sisyphus" 26 —
"Manifest" — —
2022 "Atomized" — — Inside Problems
"Underlands" — —
"Make a Picture" 25 —
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart
Close

Other album appearances

See also: Squirrel Nut Zippers' discography

Notes

  1. [A]
    These 13 did not enter the Billboard 200, but peaked at number 65 on the Billboard Top Album Sales Chart.[117]
  2. [B]
    Inside Problems did not enter the Billboard 200, but peaked at number 31 on the Billboard Top Album Sales Chart.[117]

References

External links

Related Articles

Wikiwand AI