Andrew Bird has been wooing crowds with his cultured crooning for a number of years. He rose to national attention as part of the Squirrel Nut Zippers, but has grown exponentially by his lonesome via a plethora of solid, solid solo albums. His reputation has grown, as has his ability to entertain; his live show is characterized by alternating between violin and guitar, while looping both and singing. Often accompanied by Martin Dosh on percussion who utilizes the same looping technique and is an accomplished solo artist on his own right.

Bird’s music is laid-back, but emotive. His newest album, Armchair Apocrypha is on par with his two previous releases and offers a similar experience. His voice cradles the ear through calculated swells of sound to quirky pop numbers pushed over the edge by Bird’s ability to create melodies that resonate and lyrics that often surprise with their poignancy. His penchant for penning minor-key pop songs pulls him further out of the norm of singer-songwriter, as do the techniques he uses to craft his songs. Both his aesthetic and simple songwriting ability are miles ahead of the majority of artists who are lumped into the same category as him. This may be highlighted by the fact that Bird has accrued mastery of violin, guitar, whistling, mandolin, and glockenspiel.

As a veteran of the festival circuit, Bird will be performing at this week’s Outside Lands festival in San Francisco. The level of billing he warrants has been raising steadily for the past couple of years. Andrew Bird has been a fan favorite since his seminal album The Mysterious Production of Eggs was released a number of years ago. He is currently working on another album and there are rumors of him creating an entirely instrumental album. All this, while still making time to appear on the albums of Dosh, My Morning Jacket, Rufus Wainwright, and Bonnie Prince Billy. What a guy.

Story by Jemayel Khawaja.