The album was his first to reach the Billboard 200, peaking at number 76. His 2007 follow-up, Armchair Apocrypha, continued to expand on this eclectic mix, framing his cryptic and highly literate lyrics with increasingly experimental indie rock propelled by a new collaborator, drummer/keyboardist Martin Dosh. With this release, Bird established what would become a signature sound based around elaborately multi-tracked violins and instrumental looping while also introducing fans to his remarkable prowess as a whistler. The proper solo LP that followed, 2003's Weather Systems, signaled a new phase for Bird, introducing a more experimental and layered folk-pop style that he explored more fully on his ambitious 2005 breakthrough, Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs. Acting as a sort of bridge between the Bowl of Fire era and his tentative new solo career, the self-released 2002 EP Fingerlings combined a handful of stark new solo tracks with a scattering of live band cuts. By the time Bowl of Fire released their third and final album, 2001's eclectic The Swimming Hour, Bird's music had already begun to shift in a more pop-oriented direction.Ī subsequent move out of the city to a rural Illinois farm prompted a sea change in the singer/songwriter's approach. Eventually forming his own retro-minded band, Bowl of Fire, Bird spent the remainder of the '90s fusing elements of New Orleans jazz, folk, gypsy, swing, and blues on records like Thrills and Oh! The Grandeur. His first commercial success arrived that same year via a collaboration with swing revivalists Squirrel Nut Zippers, who scored a surprise hit with their album Hot. His hunger to incorporate numerous traditions into his own work manifested itself on his 1996 solo debut, Music of Hair, a largely instrumental set of fiddle work that ranged from Celtic and gypsy styles to swing. His aptly named 12th studio LP, 2019's My Finest Work Yet, was nominated for a Grammy Award, and 2022's Inside Problems, recorded live in the studio, saw him contemplating the troubling side of people's thought processes over a cushion of emphatic, low-key indie rock.Ī native of Chicago suburb Lake Forest, Illinois, Bird began playing violin at the age of four, eventually earning a violin performance degree from Northwestern University. 2017's Echolocations: River was the second in a series of instrumental works inspired by - and recorded in - the natural world. Bird broke into film scoring with 2010's Norman, and made his Top Ten debut with his sixth solo effort, 2012's Break It Yourself.

Bird's third solo album, 2005's Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs, signaled his transformation from a jazz and folk advocate into savvy pop sophisticate and instrumental looping pioneer.

While folk and roots music has always played a part in his music, he's also conversant in contemporary pop and indie rock, and he's consistently shown a willingness to experiment, even within his more traditionally oriented projects. A virtuosic violinist, singer, songwriter, composer, actor, and expert whistler, Andrew Bird's career has undergone a variety of stylistic shifts since his early days playing jazz and swing music.

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