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Andrew Bird

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AboutAndrew Wegman Bird (born July 11, 1973) is an American violinist, singer, and songwriter. He was a member of the bands Squirrel Nut Zippers and Bowl of Fire before pursuing a solo career. His main instrument is violin, but he also plays guitar and glockenspiel and is an expert whistler. He wrote and performed "The Whistling Caruso" for The Muppets movie and composed the score for the television series Baskets. Andrew Bird currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife Katherine and their son Sam.

Growing up, Bird was surrounded by classical music. As a child, he was interested in Irish tunes and bluegrass. He also cites English and Scottish folk music as an early influence. His early jazz influences were Johnny Hodges, Lester Young, and Fats Waller. He has also had a number of classical influences such as Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and Béla Bartók. Other influences included jazz, swing, calypso, and folk. Bird has stated that, at 22, he found a lot of indie rock and pop music repetitive and boring, but now understands it better.

Bird appears to have a close relationship with The Handsome Family, an Americana band from Illinois. Covers of their songs have appeared in several of his albums, including "When The Helicopter Comes," on Hands of Glory, "Tin Foiled," on Fingerlings 3, and "Don't Be Scared," from Weather Systems. His album, Things Are Really Great Here, Sort Of, is a ten-song cover album, with a strong country feeling.

The album's liner notes contain a response from Rennie Sparks, the band's lyricist and singer: "Hearing Andrew's version of our songs feels like suddenly spotting a new and shining doorway in the midst of a room I have spent my life in. It's like finding a stairway in the forest leading upward to the sky. His recasting of our work gives me the strange and wonderful pleasure of understanding my own songs better by hearing him perform them."

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 and 2009's Noble Beast, both of which were ambitious and eclectic albums even by Bird's standards. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide

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