Andrew Bird

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Andrew Bird
Bird performing in 2022
Background information
Birth name	Andrew Wegman Bird
Born	(1973-07-11) July 11, 1973 (age 51) Lake Forest, Illinois, U.S.
Genres	Indie rock[1]
Occupations	Musician singer songwriter
Instruments	Vocals violin guitar mandolin
Years active	1992–present
Labels	Rykodisc Righteous Babe Fat Possum RCRD LBL Bella Union Earwig Music Waterbug Carrot Top Delmark Mom + Pop Loma Vista
Spouse	Katherine Tsina Bird ​ ​ (m. 2010)​
Website	andrewbird.net

Andrew Wegman Bird (born July 11, 1973) is an American indie rock multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Since 1996, he has released 16 studio albums, as well as several live albums and EPs, spanning 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 voice. 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 disbandment, and it marked a 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.

Beyond his own record releases, he has collaborated with various artists, including The Handsome Family, Dosh, Fiona Apple, and Nora O'Connor.

He has also had a career in film, as a soundtrack composer as well as an actor. He appeared as "Dr. Stringz" in a 2007 episode of Jack's Big Music Show.^[2] In 2010, he appeared on a TED Talk performing his music.^[3] He wrote and performed "The Whistling Caruso" for The Muppets movie in 2011, and composed the score for the television series Baskets, released in 2016. In 2019, Andrew Bird was cast for the fourth installment of Fargo, playing, "a character, written specifically for him, named 'Thurman Smutney'."^[4]