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Artist:

Andrew Bird

Andrew Bird

Born:
Jul 11, 1973

  • Genre: Rock
  • Active: '90s, 2000s
  • Instruments: Whistle (Human), Vocals, Violin

Biography

Chicago singer/songwriter/violinist Andrew Bird updates the traditions of small-group swing, German leider, and New Orleans jazz, mixing gypsy, folk, and rock elements into his distinctive style. Bird's projects include his group the Bowl of Fire (which also includes drummer Kevin O'Donnell, bassist Josh Hirsch, and guitarist Colin Bunn) and performing as an auxiliary member of the Squirrel Nut Zippers; in turn, the Zippers' Katharine Whalen and James Mathus appeared on the Bowl of Fire albums Thrills and Oh! the Grandeur. Bird has also recorded with artists like Pinetop Seven and Lil' Ed Williams, teaches music at the Old Town School of Folk Music, and performed on the score and soundtrack from the 1999 Tim Robbins film The Cradle Will Rock. His third album, 2001's The Swimming Hour, surprisingly found the Bowl of Fire turning to pop music, and with excellent results. As bandmembers remained active in their various other projects, the band continued and work on a follow-up began in 2002. To tide fans over, Bird self-released a limited-edition EP, Fingerlings, which documented live performances of some old and new songs by the band and solo. Early 2003 brought the release of another LP, Weather Systems, on the independent Grimsey label. Bird debuted on Ani DiFranco's Righteous Babe imprint in 2005 with Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs. He switched to Fat Possum for 2007's Armchair Apocrypha, an ambitious and eclectic album even by Bird's standards. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide

Representative Songs:

"First Song," "Sovay," "Nuthinduan Waltz"

Representative Albums:

The Swimming Hour, Weather Systems, Armchair Apocrypha

Similar Artists:

Final Fantasy, Jolie Holland, The White Birch, DeVotchKa, Ed Harcourt, Eef Barzelay, David Mead, Kelly Hogan, Jeff Buckley, Royal Crown Revue, Brian Setzer, The Flaming Lips

A Member of the Group:

Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire, Sinister Luck Ensemble, Kevin O'Donnell's Quality Six, Squirrel Nut Zippers

Followers:

Chris Koza, Harlan T. Bobo, Luke Temple
 
 
Wikipedia: Andrew Bird
Andrew Bird
Andrew Bird performing in 2007 at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
Andrew Bird performing in 2007 at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
Background information
Born July 11 1973 (1973--) (age 34)

Flag of the United States Illinois, U.S.
Genre(s) Indie, Folk
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist
Instrument(s) Violin, guitar, glockenspiel, whistling
Years active 1996 - Present
Label(s) Rykodisc, Righteous Babe, Fat Possum Records
Associated
acts		 Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire
Squirrel Nut Zippers
Website http://andrewbird.net/

Andrew Bird (born July 11, 1973) is an American musician, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He was born in Illinois and currently splits his time between Chicago and a farm near the town of Elizabeth in northwest Illinois. His musical proficiency includes violin, whistling, guitar, mandolin, and glockenspiel.

History

Trained in the Suzuki method from a young age, Bird first attended Illinois Wesleyan University but graduated from Illinois' Northwestern University with a bachelor's degree in violin performance in 1996. That same year, he released his first solo album, Music of Hair. Vastly different from his later releases, this first album showcased his violin skills and paid tribute to his fascination with both American and European folk traditions, as well as jazz and blues.

His initial commercial exposure was in collaborative work with the band Squirrel Nut Zippers. He quickly was associated with the swing revival that swept the US music industry in the mid '90s, an affiliation that he is still working to shed.

Taking on the role of band leader in 1997, he released Thrills with his band Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire. This was followed by Oh! The Grandeur in 1998. Both albums were heavily influenced by traditional folk, pre-war jazz and swing, with Bird relying on the violin as his primary musical instrument.

In 2001, Bird released The Swimming Hour, his third release with the Bowl of Fire and a dramatic departure from previous recordings. The Swimming Hour featured a mixture of styles, from the zydeco-influenced "Core and Rind" to more straightforward rock songs. He has often referred to this CD as his "jukebox album".

Andrew Bird in concert 2005
Enlarge
Andrew Bird in concert 2005

The Bowl of Fire unofficially disbanded in 2003, but featured many skilled Chicago musicians including Kevin O'Donnell, Nora O'Connor, Andy Hopkins (aka Mr. Rudy Day), Jimmy Sutton, Colin Bunn and Ryan Hembrey.

Bird released two subsequent solo albums distributed through the label operated by Ani DiFranco, Righteous Babe Records. The two CDs, 2003's Weather Systems (originally released on Grimsey records) and 2005's The Mysterious Production of Eggs continue a progression towards an eclectic indie/folk sound that is challenging to classify. In addition to the guitar, Bird's songs often feature violin, glockenspiel, and his very proficient whistling.

The artist's live solo shows have been notable in that he uses a multi-track system to sample and loop his own performance. For example, he may record a snippet of his performance on violin, then play a "loop" of that sound. This provides a more full-bodied sound and aurally suggests a band performance, rather than the sound of a solo artist. Once, at a gig in Amsterdam, at the Paradiso, he needed more movement on his feet in order to work the loop pedals, so he kicked off his shoe and hit a person in the audience. He later said "I should have simply twiddled my toes at her."

Recently, in his live shows, he has been joined by co-collaborator Martin Dosh on drums and keyboard and Jeremy Ylvisaker on bass and backup vocals.

His live performances are highlighted in a series of self-released live compilations, Fingerlings, Fingerlings 2, and Fingerlings 3. Each Fingerlings EP was released prior to a studio release and presents live versions of old tracks, cover songs, songs penned by Bird that do not appear on studio albums, and live versions of future tracks. Fingerlings 3, released in October 2006, also features studio outtakes.

In September 2006, Bird was signed to Fat Possum Records. His latest full-length solo album, Armchair Apocrypha, was released in March 2007.[1] The album was recorded in collaboration with electronic musician Martin Dosh. It includes a track by Martin Dosh called "Simple X," with lyrics by Bird. The song first appeared without lyrics as "Simple Exercises" on Dosh's 2004 release, Pure Trash. The album was produced by Ben Durrant, who also worked with Martin Dosh on 2006's The Lost Take. Haley Bonar and Chris Morrissey also appear on the album.[2] Armchair Apocrypha leaked to the internet in mid-January 2007.

In January 2007, Andrew Bird made an appearance on the Noggin television network's Jack's Big Music Show. He played character "Dr. Stringz" and sang a brief song written specifically for the episode and not found on any albums.

On April 10, 2007, Bird made his network television debut, performing "Plasticities" from Armchair Apocrypha on the Late Show with David Letterman. He also made an appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on June 14, 2007 performing "Imitosis" from the same album.

On April 20, 2007, NPR aired a live concert with Andrew Bird & Band 1.

He worked with Reverb, a non-profit environmental organization, for his 2007 spring tour.[3]

Four of his songs — "Banking on a Myth" from The Mysterious Production of Eggs, a medley of "I" from Weather Systems and "Imitosis" from Armchair Apocrypha, and "Skin" and "Weather Systems" from Weather Systems — have been licensed for use by Marriott Residence Inn. [1]

Instrumentation

  • In his recent tours, Andrew has begun using a vintage Gibson ES-175 guitar; this has replaced his vintage Silvertone guitar.
  • During his tour with Ani DiFranco, he used a custom-built horn speaker created by SPECIMEN. [2] In 2007 he started using a custom-built spinning Janus Horn Speaker [3] also created by SPECIMEN.
  • Performing live, he makes use of two Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler Stompboxes, and uses them to develop the repeating phrases in his music. He also uses a Boss OC3 Super Octave Shifter to give his Violin a much deeper sound.

Discography

Albums

EPs and singles

  • Sovay (2005 · Fargo Records) - Single
  • Live at Bonnaroo Music Festival · (2006 · Live Bonnaroo) - Live EP

Other album appearances

see also albums by Squirrel Nut Zippers.

References

  1. ^ Kati Llewellyn. "Andrew Bird Signs to Fat Possum, Titles Record", Pitchfork Media, September 11, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-09-11. 
  2. ^ http://billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002345976
  3. ^ http://www.reverbrock.org/site/

3. Tom Lynch, "Bizarre Pop Scientist: Charting Andrew Bird's unconventional path toward rock stardom," Newcity cover story, March 15, 2007

External links

Listening


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

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Artist. Copyright © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ® , a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Andrew Bird".  Read more

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