Andrew Bird

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.

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. In 2010, he appeared on a TED Talk performing his music. 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.

Biography Early life and Bowl of Fire (1973–2002) Andrew Bird was born in Lake Forest, Illinois, and raised in the North Shore of Chicago. 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.

Bird's mother took him to violin lessons as a child and he trained in the Suzuki method starting at the age of four. 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. He started taking violin seriously when he was around 13. and from Northwestern University with a bachelor's degree in violin performance in 1996. That same year he self-released his first solo album, Music of Hair. This album pays tribute to folk traditions, as well as jazz and blues. 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.

Bird released Thrills on Rykodisc in 1998 with his group Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire, shortly followed by a second album, Oh! The Grandeur, in 1999. Both albums were heavily influenced by folk, jazz, and swing, with Bird primarily on violin as well as providing vocals. 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. 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).

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." Although gaining critical praise, 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.

Early solo career (2003–2005)

Bowl of Fire unofficially disbanded in 2003, 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) 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).

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. As his sound changed, Bird made increasing use of guitar, glockenspiel, and whistling in his songwriting, in addition to his traditional violin and vocals.

Bird is noted for improvising and reworking his songs during live performances; 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. Fingerlings 3, released in October 2006, also featured studio outtakes.

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

Signed to Fat Possum Records (2006–2011)

In September 2006, Bird signed to Fat Possum Records, and in March 2007 he released his third post-Bowl of Fire album, Armchair Apocrypha. 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. The album went on to sell over 100,000 copies.

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

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

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.

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

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

Bird's fifth solo album, Noble Beast, was released on January 20, 2009, and contained fourteen new songs. Noble Beast has been met with generally favorable reviews, receiving a score of 79 out of 100 from Metacritic.

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. 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. He also did a La Blogothèque performance at a house party in Paris in 2009, collaborating with St. Vincent.

In 2010, Bird recorded with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, contributing vocals and violin on a cover of "Shake It and Break It". 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.

Break It Yourself (2011–2015) In late 2011 Bird signed to the record label Mom + Pop Music. 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.

In 2011 Andrew Bird: Fever Year, a feature-length concert documentary on Bird's year-long tour, had its world premiere at Lincoln Center with the New York Film Festival. The film's festival-only run Fever Year depicts Bird and his band during the final months of a tour during which he reportedly suffered from constant fever.

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

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

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

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.

Are You Serious (2016–2018)

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".

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

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

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

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

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, emulating the production and sound of mid-20th century jazz recordings engineered by Rudy Van Gelder. My Finest Work Yet was nominated for the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Folk Album.

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

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

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

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. The same month, Bird started on the Outside Problems tour co-headlining with Iron & Wine, performed at outdoor venues across the United States.

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.

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

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.

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

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. His album, Things Are Really Great Here, Sort Of... is a ten-song cover album of their music. He also has a personal friendship with the duo.

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. 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.

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. He also uses an octave pedal to give the violin the range of a bass.

Band members and associated acts

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, as well as samples of his own music. 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. Hampton also performed bass for the Bowl of Fire's reunion concert in 2018. Tift Merritt – vocals and guitar on Hands of Glory as well as Things Are Really Great Here, Sort Of... Nora O'Connor – backing vocals between The Swimming Hour (2001) and Break It Yourself (2012). Kevin O'Donnell – drums, percussion, electric piano. O'Donnell met Bird at Northwestern University, played drums in Bird's first band, Charlie Nobody, 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. Ted Poor – drums on Are You Serious, My Finest Work Yet, and Sunday Morning Put-On. Jeremy Ylvisaker – guitar and vocals between 2007 and 2012.

Hands of Glory Originally "supposed to be a lark, kind of a between records thing,"

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref. 2019 Grammy Awards Best Folk Album My Finest Work Yet 2026 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics "Need Someone"

Discography Studio albums + List of albums, with selected details and chart positions

Released: 1996 Label: Grimsey Records — — — — — —

Released: April 7, 1998 Label: Rykodisc — — — — — —

Released: August 24, 1999 Label: Rykodisc — — — — — — US: 15,000

Released: March 5, 2012 Label: Mom + Pop Music 10 3 1 137 39 100

Released: October 30, 2012 Label: Mom + Pop Music 52 15 5 — — —

Released: June 3, 2014 Label: Wegawam Music — — 12 — — — US: 13,000

Released: February 3, 2015 Label: Wegawam Music — — — — — —

Released: April 1, 2016 Label: Loma Vista 50 8 1 134 — —

Released: October 6, 2017 Label: Muffet Music — — — — — —

Released: March 22, 2019 Label: Loma Vista 141 26 4 117 — —

Released: October 30, 2020 Label: Loma Vista — — — — — —

Released: March 5, 2021 Label: Thirty Tigers — — — — — —

Released: June 3, 2022 Label: Loma Vista — (Inside Problems did not enter the Billboard 200, but peaked at number 31 on the Billboard Top Album Sales Chart.) Soldier On (2007) – European tour EP Fitz and the Dizzy Spells (2009) Fake Conversations (2012) – 2011 Tour Live EP Northwest Passage (2012) – 2012 Tour Live EP I Want to See Pulaski at Night (2013) Panthology Songs I (2020) Panthology Songs II (2020) Panthology Songs III (2020)

Singles +List of Singles With Chart PositionsYearSongPeak Chart PositionsAlbum USAAA UK Rock2005"Sovay"——Andrew Bird & the (feat. Fiona Apple)"——"Roma Fade"——"Valleys of the Young"——"Pulaski"——2018"Bloodless"——My Finest Work Yet2019"Sisyphus"26—"Manifest"——2022"Atomized"——Inside Problems"Underlands"——"Make a Picture"25—"—" denotes a recording that did not chart

Other album appearances

Kiltartan Road – Joy to the Morning (1995) Kat Eggleston – Outside Eden (1996, Waterbug Records) Lil Ed and Dave Weld with The Imperial Flames – Keep on Walkin' (1996, Earwig Music) Andrew Calhoun – Phoenix Envy (1996, Earwig Music) Charlie Nobody – Soup (1996) Squirrel Nut Zippers – Hot (1996, Mammoth Records) Squirrel Nut Zippers – Perennial Favorites (1998, Mammoth) Rose Polenzani – Dragersville (1998, The Orchard) Pinetop Seven – Rigging the Toplights (1998) Extra Virgin – Twelve Stories High (1999) Kevin O'Donnell – Heretic Blues (1999, Delmark Records) Andrew Calhoun – Where Blue Meets Blue (1999, Waterbug) Sally Timms – Cowboy Sally's Twilight Laments for Lost Buckaroos (1999, Bloodshot Records) Squirrel Nut Zippers – Bedlam Ballroom (2000, Hollywood Records) The Handsome Family – In the Air (2000, Carrot Top Records) Devil in a Woodpile – Division Street (2000, Bloodshot) Kevin O'Donnell – Control Freak (2000 · Delmark Records) Neko Case – Canadian Amp (2001) The Verve Pipe – Underneath (2001, RCA Records) Jenny Toomey – Antidote (2001, Misra Records) Kelly Hogan – Because It Feel Good (2001, Bloodshot) Sinister Luck Ensemble – Anniversary (2002, Perishable Records) Abandon Jalopy – Mercy (2002) WYEP Live and Direct: Volume 4 – On Air Performances – "Core and Rind" (2002) Kristin Hersh – The Grotto (2003) The Autumn Defense – Circles (2003, Arena Rock Recording Co.) Bonnie 'Prince' Billy – Sings Greatest Palace Music (2004, Drag City) Bobby Bare, Jr. – From the End of Your Leash (2004, Bloodshot Records) Ani DiFranco – Knuckle Down (2005, Righteous Babe Records) My Morning Jacket – Z (2005, ATO Records) Bobby Bare – The Moon Was Blue (2005, Dualtone Music Group) Emily Loizeau – London Town (in French and English) (2006) Dosh – The Lost Take (2006, Anticon) Candi Staton – His Hands (2006, Astralwerks) Magnolia Electric Co. – The Black Ram (2007, Secretly Canadian) KFOG Live From the Archives Volume 14 – "Imitosis"(2007) Song of America – "How You Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm" (2007, Split Rock Records/Thirty One Tigers) Charlie Louvin – "Sings Murder Ballads and Disaster Songs" (2008, Tompkins Square) Todd Sickafoose – "Tiny Resistors" (2008, Cryptogramophone) Dosh – Wolves and Wishes (2008, Anticon) Final Fantasy – Plays to Please (2008, Blocks Recording Club) Dianogah – Qhnnnl (2008, Southern Records) Loney, Dear – Dear John (2009) Dark Was the Night – "The Giant of Illinois" (Red Hot Organization, 2009) Live at KEXP Vol.5 – Oh No (2009) Thao with the Get Down Stay Down – Know Better Learn Faster (2009, Kill Rock Stars) Dosh – Tommy Twistable Turnable Man: A Musical Tribute to Shel Silverstein – The Twistable, Turnable Man Returns (2010, Sugar Hill Records) Muppets: The Green Album – "Bein' Green" (2011, Walt Disney Records) Norman (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2011, Mom + Pop Music) The Muppets: Original Soundtrack – "The Whistling Caruso" (2011, Walt Disney Records) Holidays Rule – "Auld Lang Syne" (2012, Hear Music/Concord Music Group) Boris Grebenshchikov – Salt (2014, SoLyd Records) The Best of Bluegrass Underground 2 – Danse Caribe (2015, PBS Distribution) Esperanza Spalding – "The Ways You've Got the Love", Exposure'' (2017, Concord Records) I Only Listen to the Mountain Goats: All Hail West Texas – "Distant Stations" (2018)