A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.^[1]

Classical music[link]

Music written for symphony orchestra usually calls for a percussion section featuring a number of musicians who might each play a variety of different instruments during a performance. Orchestras will also often, but not always, call for several members of the woodwind section to be multi-instrumentalists. This is sometimes referred to as doubling. Typically, for example, one flute player in the orchestra will switch to playing the piccolo or alto flute when called to by the score. Similarly, clarinet players may double on bass clarinet, oboe players on cor anglais, and bassoon players on contrabassoon. Trumpet players may switch to piccolo trumpet for certain Baroque literature, and first trombone players may switch to alto trombone. Doubling elsewhere in the orchestra is rare.

The European Piffari, Stadtpfeifer and Waits were multi-instrumentalists, who played trumpet, sackbut, shawm, cornett, recorder and string-instruments.^[2] Musicians with an education of a Stadtpfeifer were Gottfried Reiche,^[3] Johann Joachim Quantz,^[3] Johann Christof Pezel and Sigmund Theophil Staden.^[3] Also many European church musicians of the 17th and 18th centuries were multi-instrumentalists, who played several instruments. Georg Philipp Telemann for example played violin, viola da gamba, recorder, flauto traverso, oboe, shawm, sackbut and double bass.^[4] A contemporary multi-instrumentalist is the German kantor Helmut Kickton who performs church music on organ, violin, viola, cello, double bass, recorder, euphonium, guitar and kettledrums. More recently, German violinst Julia Fischer has also been credited with and acclaimed for being an excellent pianist as well, which is demonstrated in her late recordings of several renowned classical piano pieces.

Jazz, modern, and contemporary music[link]

Many professional musicians aim to become multi-instrumentalists. This process comes in lots of different forms; some jazz saxophonists are offered gigs where they are also required to play clarinet for example. So they spend time learning the differences and then continue to develop their ability over the rest of musical careers. The different types of saxophone are built to similar designs, varying mainly only in size (and therefore pitch), meaning that once a player has learned to play one it is relatively easy for him/her to pick up another. As a result, many Jazz saxophone players have made careers playing several different instruments, such as John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter, both of whom have frequently used both Tenor and Soprano saxophones. To a lesser extent this is the case across the range of woodwind instruments: Jazz flute players often play other instruments as well, such as Eric Dolphy and Herbie Mann, both of whom frequently played flute and saxophone. Dolphy was also frequently recorded on bass clarinet.

Many famous jazz musicians including James Morrison, Don Burrows, Mark Taylor and many more have become detailed multi-instrumentalists.

Rock and pop music[link]

Often, multi-instrumentalists are solo artists who overdub several tracks themselves, rather than hiring session musicians, but they can also be found within bands or working under various monikers. However, when playing live, most multi-instrumentalists will concentrate on their main instrument and/or vocals, and hire or recruit backing musicians (or use a sequencer) to play the other instruments, thus benefiting from economies of scope.

In most cases, a multi-instrumentalist will play several types of keyboard and plucked string instruments, such as piano, synthesizer, organ, guitar, bass and mandolin, and perhaps also percussion and drums. They may also play brass and woodwind instruments, although this is fairly rare within popular music. The voice is sometimes, albeit rarely, listed amongst a multi-instrumentalist's instrumental repertoire. One of the pioneers of this style of recording was Mike Oldfield on his LP Tubular Bells, where he played multiple instruments, such as organ, guitar, honky-tonk piano, bass, drums, glockenspiel, the tubular bells themselves, and more.

Some musicians have pushed the limits of human musical skill on different instruments. The British entertainer Roy Castle once set a world record by playing the same tune on 43 different instruments in four minutes.^{[citation needed]} Anton Newcombe, frontman for The Brian Jonestown Massacre, claimed in the documentary film Dig! to be able to play 80 different instruments.^{[citation needed]}

Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones was one of the first pop musicians to be a prolific multi-instrumentalist, popularizing diverse instrumentation in rock music and promoting an important influence on multi-instrumentalists, World Music. Stevie Wonder is known to be skilled in several instruments; on his 1972 hit "Superstition" he played all instruments except horns and guitar. Widely considered to be one of the most critically acclaimed multi-instrumentalists of all-time, Todd Rundgren wrote, played, sang, engineered, and produced the landmark album Something/Anything? in 1972. Rundgren's overall talent, eclecticism, and body of work between the late 1960s and late 1970s would have a profound impact on the artist who is arguably the most famous pop multi-instrumentalist of all-time, Prince. Paul McCartney performed the entire McCartney album by himself, all instruments and voices (except a few backing vocals done by his first wife Linda McCartney).

Multi-instrumentalist Yuri Landman not only plays several string instruments, but also creates several new instruments with alternative scalings, constructions and string combinations to reach new playing techniques. His work is mainly based on resonance, string pitching and overtones.

There are a number of artists in pop, rock and electronic music that are known for their proficiency on many instruments. Some lesser known multi-instrumentalists include John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Jon Foreman of the rock band Switchfoot, singer/songwriter/producer Bruno Mars, Richard Wright of Pink Floyd, will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas, French singer Sébastien Tellier, AJ McLean of Backstreet Boys fame, actor Hugh Laurie, singer-songwriter Rozalind MacPhail, and Serj Tankian of the music group System of a Down. Michael Mercer covers for Kings of Leon. He uses an Epiphone Supernova, a Gibson EB-180, A Parlor Vintage '64 Bass, and a custom made instrument called a strumpini. A strumpini is a 30-string instrument with no frets but it is marked. It is always a semi-hollow. It is often confused with a tripled ten-string mandolin.

Notable multi-instrumentalists[link]

• AR Rahman
• John Paul Jones^[5]
• Brian Jones^[6]
• Ian Anderson
• Dave Grohl
• Prince^[7]
• Lenny Kravitz
• Paul McCandless
• Michael Monroe
• Eric Dolphy
• Yusef Lateef
• Roy Clark
• Maynard Ferguson
• Matthew Bellamy
• Paul McCartney
• Neil Young
• Trent Reznor
• Mike Shinoda
• Beck
• Josh Klinghoffer
• Jack White
• Butch Walker
• Stevie Wonder
• Patrick Stump
• André 3000
• Dan Swano
• Ray Charles
• Ben Kenney
• Levon Helm
• James Hetfield
• Kim Him Chan^[8]

See also[link]

• One-man band

References[link]

External links[link]

• On Being a Multi-Instrumentalist

Man are a rock band from South Wales whose style is a mixture of West Coast psychedelia, progressive rock, blues and country-rock. Formed in 1968 as a reincarnation of Welsh rock harmony group ‘’The Bystanders’’, Man are renowned for the extended jams in their live performances, and having had numerous line up changes.

The Bystanders[link]

Man evolved out of The Bystanders, a successful close harmony pop group from Merthyr Tydfil who played numerous club residencies in Wales, often playing several clubs a night. The Bystanders issued eight singles, including "98.6" (#45 in UK Singles Chart, in February 1967)^[1] which featured in the 2009 film, The Boat That Rocked (although Keith's version was the bigger hit, reaching #24 in the UK) and "When Jesamine Goes", written by their manager Ronnie Scott and Marty Wilde under the pseudonyms of Frere Manston and Jack Gellar, which was later covered by The Casuals as "Jesamine" and got to #2 in the UK Chart. They also recorded sessions of cover versions for the BBC as rules restricting needle time required "live" performances between the records during the 1960s; ^[2] becoming regulars on the ’’Jimmy Young Show’’, "The David Symonds Show" and others.

When formed in 1962 The Bystanders included Owen Money, then known as Gerry Braden,^[3] but he was replaced by Vic Oakley, giving the classic line up of Micky Jones (guitar), Ray Williams (bass), Jeff Jones (drums), Clive John (aka Clint Space) (keyboards) and Vic Oakley (vocals). By 1968 the other members wanted to change musical direction to a more psychedelic/American west-coast guitar sound, so Oakley left, to be replaced by Deke Leonard; and the band changed its name to Man.^[4]

Pye years[link]

Man were initially signed to Pye Records, for whom they recorded their first two albums:- Revelation noted for the simulated orgasm on "Erotica", which received a UK ban,^[5] and 2 Ozs of Plastic with a Hole in the Middle. Whilst mixing the second album, Leonard left, and was replaced by Martin Ace from Leonard’s previous band, Dream. At this time, Man were recording three demo sessions a week for Leeds Music, including Down the Dustpipe which they taught to Status Quo.^[6]

Man then toured Europe, predominantly Germany, where they supported Chicago, but on their return, were stopped as suspected terrorists, then jailed for drugs offences in Belgium. Leonard then rejoined, but Ace stayed on as a multi-instrumentalist. Shortly after, Ray Williams and Jeff Jones were fired, with Terry Williams joining on drums and Ace moving to bass. Leonard, Ace and Terry Williams having been together in “Dream”, this was seen by some as a take-over.^[6]

A bootleg of the first gig by this line up, October 1970 in Hamburg, was issued as To Live for to Die and was later re-bootlegged by the band.^[7] Despite good reviews in Britain Two Ounces of Plastic ... was more popular in Germany, so the band spent a year in Germany, where, having to play 4–5 hours a night, most numbers became extended jams.

United Artists years[link]

Their manager, Barrie Marshall, obtained a new record contract with Andrew Lauder of United Artists Records, for whom the band recorded the eponymous Man album, which received mixed reviews. Their media break came when outperforming Soft Machine, Yes and Family at a concert in Berlin, but they continued to play on the continent.^[8] Having appeared on the United Artists sampler album, All Good Clean Fun, they undertook a tour of Switzerland, to promote the album, together with Help Yourself and Leicester band Gypsy.

The next album Do You Like It Here Now, Are You Settling In? recorded at Rockfield Studios by Kingsley Ward, received good reviews, and the band played German TV and Iceland with Badfinger.^[9] Constant touring was creating internal pressures, and in January 1972, John left the band, to form “Iowerth Pritchard and the Neutrons” with Phil Ryan and Will Youatt.

The new four piece supported Hawkwind and Brinsley Schwarz at a charity gig at The Roundhouse on 13 February 1972, recorded and issued as Greasy Truckers Party, a limited edition double album which rapidly became a collectors' item.^[10] United Artists' A&R man, Andrew Lauder, persuaded them to follow this up with a live album.^[11] Live at the Padget Rooms, Penarth was recorded on 8 April 1972. It was sold at a reduced price and only 8000 copies were pressed, which sold out in a week, making it No 1 in the “budget” album chart.^[12] Man recorded the first of their three Peel Sessions on 29 August 1972, (the others being 18 September 1973 & 31 October 1974)^[13]

The band then tried to write a new studio album, but lacked inspiration. Martin Ace left, to form "The Flying Aces" with his wife George, so Micky Jones and Terry Williams sacked Leonard, and John rejoined together with his new band members, Ryan (keyboards) and Youatt (bass).^[14] The new band recorded Be Good to Yourself at Least Once a Day which received good reviews. A party on 19 December 1972, with Dave Edmunds, Help Yourself, The Flying Aces and others, was issued as Christmas at the Patti, a double 10” album, which again topped the “budget” album chart, but on tour John fell out with Micky Jones, and left again.

The four-piece started to record Back Into The Future, but felt the need for a second guitarist, so Alan “Tweke” Lewis joined from Wild Turkey. On 24 June 1973 they recorded the live half of this double album at Man’s spiritual London home, The Roundhouse, backed by the Gwalia Male Voice Choir, who had previously sung with Man at The Oval,^[15] when they supported Frank Zappa. The album initially sold well, rising to No 23,^[16] and again, this was tipped to be album that would make the band, but pressing was restricted by a lack of plastic during the oil crisis. The follow-up tour had Deke Leonard’s Iceberg as support. During the tour, Micky Jones and Leonard discussed a new Man line-up, so when Ryan and Youatt left to form The Neutrons in December 1973, Leonard disbanded Iceberg and rejoined Man along with two former members of Help Yourself; Malcolm Morley (keyboards) and Ken Whaley (bass), who had also played in Iceberg.^[8]

The next album Rhinos, Winos and Lunatics was produced by Roy Thomas Baker, noted for his work with Queen, and spent 4 weeks in the UK album chart, peaking at No 24.^[16] In March/April 1974 Man supported Hawkwind on The 1999 Party, a 5 week US tour. At the Los Angeles Whisky a Go Go on 12 March, Jim Horn joined on saxophone, which was issued as a bonus disc with the reissue of the Rhinos ... Album in 2007. The 21 April gig in Chicago, was recorded for radio, and issued on CD as The 1999 Party Tour in 1997, but omits Morley from the credits, although he is on the recording.

Morley left the day before recording started on the next album Slow Motion. Before the album was released, the band toured the UK (again with Badfinger) and USA in August–October 1974. They returned to the USA in March 1975, to promote the album by touring with REO Speedwagon and New Riders of the Purple Sage, but the tour collapsed on the first night. A new US tour, with REO Speedwagon and Blue Öyster Cult broke up two-thirds of the way through.^[8] Additional dates were arranged, but most were cancelled when Micky Jones developed pneumonia, so the final gigs were to be at the San Francisco Winterland. These were a great success, and promoter Bill Graham paid them a bonus, and rebooked them, but Whaley had had enough, and left.^[17]

Martin Ace flew out as a stand in, and the band met and rehearsed with John Cipollina of Quicksilver Messenger Service, who played with them at Winterland, and agreed to play a UK tour. On this tour, the Roundhouse gig was recorded, but it is rumoured that Micky Jones had to over-dub Cipollina’s guitar, as it was out of tune, before the Maximum Darkness album could be released.^[18] The album eventually reaching no 25 in the UK album chart.^[16] and Martin Ace continued as “stand in” bassist, until the end of a French tour, with Hawkwind, Gong and Magma, when he returned to the Flying Aces.

MCA[link]

The band changed label to MCA Records, Ryan rejoined on keyboards, but as no bass players they knew were available, the band had to audition for the first time in their history. Auditions went badly, until the final audition, of John McKenzie of Global Village Trucking Company, who was immediately offered the job.^[19] They then recorded The Welsh Connection which reached No 40 in the UK Album Chart^[16] and was toured in March/April 1976 in Britain and June/July in the US. During the US tour differences arose again, and on the subsequent European tour Ryan and McKenzie announced they would be leaving, and the rest of the band agreed to call it a day.^[19] The MCA record deal, however, was for 3 albums, but nobody was willing to contribute new material, and their attempts at covers were poor, so MCA eventually agreed to a live farewell album. All's Well That Ends Well was recorded at the Roundhouse on 11–13 December, although the final gig was in Slough on 16 December 1976. The band agreed that they “would never, ever, be one of those bands who reformed in a futile attempt to recapture past glories ...”.^[20]

Interval[link]

After the 1976 break up, band members undertook numerous projects, often with other former members.

Martin Ace[link]

Ace left Man before The Welsh Connection to reform The Flying Aces with his wife George (guitar), Mickey Gee (guitar), Phil Ryan (keyboards) and Stuart Halliday (drums). Ryan returned to Man and Halliday joined ‘’Alkatraz’’ being replaced first by Dave Charles, (ex Help Yourself) and then Mike Gibbins (ex Badfinger)

In the 1980s Ace & Micky Jones occasionally backed Welsh Elvis impersonator, Peter Singh in The Screaming Pakistanis and Ace also played with guitarist David Tipton with John 'Pugwash' Weathers (ex Gentle Giant) on drums.^[21]

Micky Jones[link]

Shortly after the break-up, Micky Jones recorded some demos with John McKenzie (bass), Malcolm Morley (guitar & keyboards) and Derek Ballard (drums). In 1978 he formed the Micky Jones Band, with Tweke Lewis (guitar), Steve Dixon (drums), Al McLaine (bass) and Steve Gurl (ex Wild Turkey & Babe Ruth) (keyboards).

Lewis & Gurl left, so Jones, Dixon & McLaine continued as three-piece Manipulator occasionally known as ‘’The Acidtones’’. In 1981 Jones disbanded Manipulator and formed The Flying Pigs with Mick Hawksworth (bass) and Phil Little (drums).^[22]

Deke Leonard[link]

Leonard reformed Iceberg, with Lincoln Carr (bass) and Terry Williams (when not playing with Rockpile). He still had a record contract and initially recorded with Martin Ace and Terry Williams, but needed two attempts to complete the album ‘'Before Your Very Eyes’', release of which was delayed for five years, when EMI took over United Artists.^[23] A later line up included 2 musicians Leonard had played with in Help Yourself, Richard Treece (guitar & bass) and B.J. Cole (pedal steel guitar), plus Reg Isadore (drums). Leonard took up writing, and briefly moved to the USA, where he worked on a Walter Egan album.

Leonard formed The Force with Sean Tyla (ex Ducks Deluxe) (guitar), Micky Groome (bass) and Paul Simmons (drums). Their album Force's First also included Terry Williams and Martin Ace. The Force disbanded after Tyla suffered severe stage fright in 1982, and Leonard reformed the band as another Iceberg^[23]

John McKenzie[link]

McKenzie initially joined Ryan and Pete Brown, before joining Steve Hillage appearing on some tracks of the ‘'Live Herald'’ album. He then became a session/backing musician, touring with Dr John, Albert Lee, Davy Spillane, The Christians, Seal, Alison Moyet and Everything but the Girl and recording with Bob Dylan, The Pretenders, Eurythmics, David Bowie, Mary Coughlan, Paul Brady, Moya Brennan, Andrea Corr, Damien Rice, and Wham.

Phil Ryan[link]

Ryan rejoined his former Piblokto partner Pete Brown and briefly formed The Brown & Ryan Band with McKenzie (bass), Taff Williams (ex Neutrons) (guitar) and Steve Jones (drums). A second line up of Pete Brown, Phil Ryan, Taff Williams, Dill Katz (bass) and Jeff Seopardie (drums) known as both ‘’Pete Brown and the Interoceters’’ and ‘’Ray Gammond and the Interoceters’’ recorded some tracks issued on Pete Brown’s 1984 album ‘’Party in the Rain’’. He also played a few gigs with the Flying Aces.^[21]

Ryan then moved to Denmark, where his wife Bolette came from, and wrote music for films and TV

Terry Williams[link]

On the breakup of Man, Williams immediately joined Rockpile with Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe and Billy Bremner. They continued until 1982, issuing several successful albums & singles and touring the USA and Europe. Williams briefly worked with Meat Loaf, before receiving an offer from Dire Straits, who he was still working with, when Man reformed.^[21]

Reformed[link]

The band reformed in 1983, with a line-up of Micky Jones and Deke Leonard on guitars, Martin Ace on bass and John “Pugwash” Weathers (formerly of Gentle Giant) on drums. This line up was to stay constant until 1996, except from a short spell, when Weathers was unwell, and Rick Martinez temporarily took over

After rehearsals, their first gig was on All Fools Day at the Marquee Club in London, and in June they recorded Friday 13th (Picasso PIK 001) at The Marquee, but this comprised old numbers, not new material. Not having a recording contract to promote them, albums were issued on several labels, e.g. Friday 13th was also issued as Live at the Marquee (Great Expectations PIPCD 055) and Talk about a Morning (Dressed to Kill DRESS 600). Later that year they played the Reading Festival which was recorded for Tommy Vance’s Friday Rock Show and released as Live At Reading '83 in 1993.^[24]

In 1983, they also recorded an album of new material in Germany, but fell out with the producer, who was also the album’s promoter, so the album was never issued.^[25] The first studio album to be issued, The Twang Dynasty was issued in 1992 and included the track "Fast and Dangerous" which was used on trailers for Paul Whitehouse’s Fast Show, although the band were not paid for this.^[25]

Their performance at 1994’s Glastonbury Festival was issued as Live 1994 - Official Bootleg (and reissued as Live Official Bootleg), and in 1995 they recorded Call Down The Moon issued on the Hypertension label, and produced by the band and Ron Sanchez – a US musician and DJ, who had long championed their cause.

Weathers left in 1996, allegedly because Gentle Giant were about to reform,^[26] and was replaced by returning drummer Terry Williams, who in the interim, had served in bands such as Dire Straits. Williams recorded some tracks, later released on the Undrugged album, and then Leonard suffered a minor stroke, so the band played a few gigs as a 3 piece. When Leonard returned in 1997, Williams left, to be replaced by drummer Bob Richards formerly of The Wild Family and The Adrian Smith Band.

Former keyboardist Phil Ryan returned in 1998 taking the band back to the classic 5-piece line-up, which recorded a live double album at The Star Club, Oberhausen, West Germany, in March that year. Ryan played a major role in producing 2000's Endangered Species, but then had to withdraw from the band for personal reasons. Ryan was replaced by Gareth Llewellyn Thorrington, who missed the recording of Down Town Live at the Down Town Blues Club, Hamburg, in May 2001, as his flight was cancelled due a bomb-scare, but appeared on part of the Undrugged album (an “unplugged” album with a twist in the title), which had been started in 1996, and was finally issued in 2002. Undrugged has some classic covers, including Brian Wilson's Sail on Sailor and Ray Charles's Georgia On My Mind both lead vocals being by Micky Jones.

In 2002 Micky Jones was diagnosed with a brain tumour and had to take time off for treatment. Micky's place was temporarily taken by his son George Jones, but when Micky had recovered enough to rejoin, in 2004, Leonard decided to leave, again, so George became a permanent member of the band. In 2005, Micky Jones' health deteriorated due to the re-occurrence of his brain tumour^[22] and he was replaced by Martin Ace's son Josh Ace.

In 2006, the album Diamonds and Coal was released, after which Thorrington was sacked, and the band continued as a 4-piece. The 40th anniversary tour in 2008, saw the return of Ryan on keyboards, giving a multi-generational line up, with two early members (Martin Ace and Phil Ryan), two sons of early members (George Jones and Josh Ace) and Bob Richards, who had been in the band since 1997. This line up also recorded a studio album, but before this was mixed, the band split.^[27] Josh Ace, Martin Ace and Phil Ryan recruited James Beck (guitar, vocals) and Rene Robrahn (drums, vocals) to the new line up and wiped parts of the album to replace George Jones. Bob Richards parts were kept on as they were unable to record over them, due to the lack of a click track. This latest album Kingdom of Noise was finally released in June 2009.^[28]

After leaving Man, Micky Jones continued to perform for a while, but was then diagnosed with another tumour, he spent the next year and a half in and out of hospital, his health meant he remained at a care home in Swansea for the next 3 years until he died peacefully, at the age of 63, on 10 March 2010.^[29][30][31] Fans paid tribute to Micky Jones online,^[32] calling Man the greatest Welsh band of all time.

Clive John, AKA Clint Space, another of the founding members, died after a long fight against emphysema on 24 August 2011.^[33]

Discography[link]

For a full discography see "The Manband Archive". In August 2011 this listed 412 releases, on 71 labels, in 24 countries.^[34]

Band member timeline[link]

 id:guitar      value:yellow       legend:Guitar
 id:bass        value:yellowgreen    legend:Bass
 id:drums       value:powderblue2  legend:Drums
 id:keys       value:orange      legend:Keyboards
 id:lines       value:black        legend:Albums

 bar:Micky      text:"Micky Jones"
 bar:Deke    text:"Deke Leonard"
 bar:Ray   text:"Ray Williams"
 bar:Jeff   text:"Jeff Jones"
 bar:Clive    text:"Clive John"
 bar:Martin   text:"Martin Ace"
 bar:Terry      text:"Terry Williams"
 bar:Will     text:"Will Youatt"
 bar:Phil  text:"Phil Ryan"
 bar:Tweke     text:"Tweke Lewis"
 bar:Ken    text:"Ken Whaley"
 bar:Malc    text:"Malcolm Morley
 bar:Cippo     text:"John Cippolina"
 bar:John     text:"John McKenzie"
 bar:Pugwash     text:"John Weathers"
 bar:Rick     text:"Rick Martinez"
 bar:Bob     text:"Bob Richards"
 bar:Gareth     text:"Gareth Thorrington"
 bar:George     text:"George Jones"
 bar:Josh     text:"Josh Ace"
 bar:James     text:"James Beck"
 bar:Rene     text:"Rene Robrahn"

 width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
 bar:Micky     from:01/11/1968 till: 16/12/1976 color:guitar
 bar:Deke    from:01/11/1968 till: 15/08/1969 color:guitar
 bar:Deke    from:16/03/1970 till: 15/04/1972 color:guitar
 bar:Deke    from:01/01/1974 till: 16/12/1976 color:guitar
 bar:Ray   from:01/11/1968 till:15/10/1970 color:bass
 bar:Jeff   from:01/11/1968 till:15/10/1970 color:drums
 bar:Clive    from:01/11/1968 till:15/01/1972 color:keys
 bar:Clive    from:16/04/1972 till:15/04/1973 color:guitar
 bar:Martin   from:16/08/1969 till:15/10/1970 color:guitar
 bar:Martin   from:16/10/1970 till:15/04/1972 color:bass
 bar:Martin   from:16/03/1975 till:31/08/1975 color:bass
 bar:Terry      from:16/10/1970 till: 16/12/1976 color:drums
 bar:Will     from:16/04/1972 till:31/12/1973 color:bass
 bar:Phil   from:16/04/1972 till:31/12/1973 color:keys
 bar:Phil     from:01/10/1975 till: 16/12/1976 color:keys
 bar:Tweke    from:16/06/1973 till:31/12/1973 color:guitar
 bar:Ken    from:01/01/1974 till:15/03/1975      color:bass
 bar:Malc    from:01/01/1974 till:15/07/1974 color:keys
 bar:Cippo    from:01/05/1975 till: 31/07/1975     color:guitar
 bar:John     from:01/10/1975 till:16/12/1976 color:bass
 bar:Micky     from:01/04/1983 till: 30/06/2002 color:guitar
 bar:Deke    from:01/04/1983 till: 30/06/1996 color:guitar
 bar:Martin    from:01/04/1983 till: end   color:bass
 bar:Pugwash    from:01/04/1983 till: 31/12/1986 color:drums
 bar:Terry    from:01/03/1987 till: 15/02/1988 color:drums
 bar:Pugwash    from:06/02/1988 till: 30/11/1989 color:drums
 bar:Terry    from:01/01/1990 till: 31/01/1990 color:drums
 bar:Rick    from:01/02/1990 till: 31/10/1990 color:drums
 bar:Pugwash    from:01/11/1990 till: 31/12/1995 color:drums
 bar:Terry    from:01/01/1996 till: 31/01/1997 color:drums
 bar:Deke    from:01/02/1997 till: 30/06/2004 color:guitar
 bar:Bob    from:01/02/1997 till: 31/12/2008 color:drums
 bar:Phil    from:01/01/1998 till: 30/06/2000 color:keys
 bar:Gareth    from:01/07/2000 till: 01/11/2006 color:keys
 bar:George    from:01/07/2002 till: 31/12/2008 color:guitar
 bar:Micky     from:01/07/2004 till: 30/06/2005 color:guitar
 bar:Josh     from:01/07/2005 till: end     color:guitar
 bar:Phil    from:01/07/2008 till: end     color:keys
 bar:James    from:01/01/2009 till: end     color:guitar
 bar:Rene    from:01/01/2009 till: end     color:drums

 at:01/01/1969 color:black layer:back
 at:01/09/1969 color:black layer:back
 at:01/03/1971 color:black layer:back
 at:01/11/1971 color:black layer:back
 at:28/04/1972 color:black layer:back
 at:01/09/1972 color:black layer:back
 at:01/10/1972 color:black layer:back
 at:01/04/1973 color:black layer:back
 at:01/09/1973 color:black layer:back
 at:01/05/1974 color:black layer:back
 at:01/10/1974 color:black layer:back
 at:01/09/1975 color:black layer:back
 at:01/03/1976 color:black layer:back
 at:01/03/1977 color:black layer:back
 at:01/01/1984 color:black layer:back
 at:14/11/1992 color:black layer:back
 at:01/03/1995 color:black layer:back
 at:01/07/1998 color:black layer:back
 at:12/07/2000 color:black layer:back
 at:01/04/2002 color:black layer:back
 at:23/11/2006 color:black layer:back
 at:09/06/2009 color:black layer:back

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Leonard D. (1996 & Rev. 2001) Rhinos, Winos & Lunatics. Northdown Publishing ISBN 1-900711-00-1 & ISBN 1-900711-09-1
• Leonard D. (2000) Maybe I Should’ve Stayed in Bed? Northdown Publishing ISBN 1-900711-09-5

External links[link]

• Comprehensive fan site
• Original fan site
• Micky Jones Official site
• Deke Leonard Official site
• The Harvard Man Home Page
• Tribute Album download page
• Man at Discogs.com

Andrew Bird
Andrew Bird with violin, 2009
Background information
Born	(1973-07-11) July 11, 1973 (age 38) Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres	Indie rock, indie folk, folk rock, baroque pop
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Voice, whistling, violin, guitar, glockenspiel
Years active	1996–present
Labels	Rykodisc, Righteous Babe, Fat Possum, RCRD LBL, Bella Union, Earwig Music, Waterbug, Carrot Top, Delmark, Mom+Pop
Associated acts	Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Kevin O'Donnells Quality Six, Dosh
Website	andrewbird.net

Andrew Wegman Bird (born July 11, 1973) is an American musician, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.

History[link]

Early life and the Bowl of Fire (1973–2002)[link]

Trained in the Suzuki method from the age of four,^[1] Bird graduated from Lake Forest High School in 1991 and 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. Vastly different from his later work, this album showcased his violin skills and paid tribute to his fascination with both American and European 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.

Taking on the role of bandleader, Bird released Thrills on Rykodisc in 1997 with his group Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire, shortly followed by second album Oh! The Grandeur in 1998. Both albums were heavily influenced by traditional folk, pre-war jazz, and swing, with Bird relying on the violin as his primary musical instrument, as well as providing vocals along with his trademark verbose lyrics. The Bowl of Fire featured musicians from Bird's home town of Chicago, including Kevin O'Donnell, Joshua Hirsch, Nora O'Connor, Andy Hopkins, Jimmy Sutton, Colin Bunn, and Ryan Hembrey. During this period, Andrew Bird was a member of the jazz group Kevin O'Donnells Quality Six, for which he was the lead singer and violinist and contributed to arrangements and songwriting for the albums Heretic Blues (Delmark 1999) and Control Freak (Delmark 2000) (both Delmark albums were produced by Raymond Salvatore Harmon).

In 2001, the Bowl of Fire released their third album, The Swimming Hour, a dramatic departure from their previous recordings. It featured a mixture of styles, from the zydeco-influenced "Core and Rind" to more straightforward rock songs such as "11:11". Due to this eclectic nature, Bird has often referred to it as his "jukebox album". Although gaining critical praise (The Swimming Hour received a 9.0 from indie music website Pitchfork^[2]), the band failed to attain commercial success or recognition, playing to audiences as small as 40 people.^[3] 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. The reluctant Bird performed the gig alone, and the surprising success of this solo show suggested potential new directions for his music.^[3]

Early solo career (2003–2005)[link]

Andrew Bird in concert 2005

The Bowl of Fire unofficially disbanded in 2003, and Bird went on to radically re-invent himself as a solo artist. His two subsequent albums were released on Ani Difranco's Righteous Babe Records label. 2003's Weather Systems (originally released on Grimsey Records) was a sparse record with a dramatic change in musical direction. It featured the tracks "Skin" and "I", proto-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 eclectic indie–folk sound, and both records formed a stark stylistic break with Bird's earlier work, swapping the lush backing of a full band for carefully 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 performance, as can be seen in his series of self-released live compilations entitled Fingerlings, Fingerlings 2, and Fingerlings 3, the first of which was released in 2002. Each Fingerlings EP was released prior to a studio album, and presented a mixture of live performances from different shows, including old tracks, covers, and previously unreleased songs, some of which have since appeared on studio albums. Fingerlings 3, released in October 2006, also featured studio outtakes. Fingerlings 2 provided Bird with an unexpected boost in recognition in 2004 when it was named album of the month by Mojo.^[1]

In 2005, co-collaborator Martin Dosh joined Bird's line-up, adding percussion and keyboards to his sound.^[1] Jeremy Ylvisaker was later added to the group on bass and backup vocals.

Signed to Fat Possum Records (2006–2011)[link]

Bird performing at the 2007 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival

In September 2006, Bird signed to Fat Possum Records, and in March 2007 he released his third post-Bowl of Fire album, Armchair Apocrypha.^[4] The album was recorded in collaboration with electronic musician Martin 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 (who had worked on Dosh's The Lost Take), and also featured Haley Bonar and Chris Morrissey.^[5] In advance of the March release date, Armchair Apocrypha was leaked to the Internet in January 2007. The album went on to sell over 100,000 copies.^[1]

As publicity for Armchair Apocrypha, Bird made his network television debut on April 10, 2007, performing "Plasticities" (from the new album) on the Late Show with David Letterman. He also appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on June 14, 2007, performing "Imitosis" from the same album. In April 2007, he did a Take-Away Show acoustic video session shot by Vincent Moon. These appearances were accompanied by an extensive tour, which ended with sell-out performances at the Beacon Theater, New York and the Orpheum Theater, Los Angeles.^[1]

In January 2007, Andrew Bird made an appearance on the Noggin television network's Jack's Big Music Show, playing the part of Dr. Stringz and appearing in order to mend a character's broken dulcimer. Bird sang a brief song called "Dr. Stringz", written specially for the show. He now often plays it live as an introduction to the song "Fake Palindromes".^[6][7]

On May 20, 2007, National Public Radio aired a live concert by Bird from Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club^[8] He also worked with Reverb, a non-profit environmental organization, for his 2007 spring tour.^[9]

Five of his songs – "Banking on a Myth" from "The Mysterious Production of Eggs," a medley of "I" from Weather Systems and "Imitosis" from "Armchair Apocrypha," and "Skin" and "Weather Systems" from Weather Systems – have been licensed for use by Marriott Residence Inn.^[10]

Since March 2008, Bird has contributed to "Measure for Measure,"^[11] a New York Times blog in which musicians write about their songwriting process. In it, he has charted the development of the song "Oh No," previewing samples at various stages of development through to the finished album recording. He also discussed the conception of the song "Natural Disaster," the recording of instrumental piece "Hot Math," and previewed "Master Sigh." The first two songs were later released on Bird's 2009 album "Noble Beast," whilst the latter two appeared on its bonus disc "Useless Creatures."^[12]

In December 2008, Bird appeared in the second series of Nigel Godrich's From the Basement alongside Radiohead and Fleet Foxes. His performance included a preview of new song "Section 8 City," a ten minute re-imagining of "Sectionate City," which originally appeared on the "Soldier On EP."^[13]

Bird's fifth solo album, "Noble Beast," was released on January 20, 2009, and contained fourteen new songs, with bonus tracks available for download from iTunes and eMusic. "The Privateers" is a re-imagining of a very early song entitled "The Confession" from 1999's "Oh! The Grandeur."^[1] A limited deluxe edition of the album included alternate packaging and artwork, as well as an all-instrumental companion disc entitled "Useless Creatures." The entirety of "Useless Creatures" was made available via Bird's website during the run-up to the release. "Noble Beast" has been met with generally favourable reviews, receiving a score of 79 out of 100 from review collation site Metacritic.^[14]

In 2009, Bird contributed a cover of the song "The Giant of Illinois" to the HIV and 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. Some of the songs on the EP were previously available for download from iTunes and eMusic as bonus tracks to "Noble Beast."

In 2010, Bird recorded with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, contributing vocals and violin on a cover of "Shake It and Break It" on "Preservation: An Album to Benefit Preservation Hall & The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program."

Andrew Bird currently uses custom-made Schroeder amplifiers.^[15]

Break It Yourself (2011–present)[link]

In late 2011 Bird signed to the record label Mom+Pop. Andrew 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.^[16] Bird sequenced the soundtrack to flow as a stand-alone album rather than a compilation of music from the film.^[16] Its music supervisor, Peymon Maskan, told HitQuarters: "The best compliment I've heard is that without having seen the film, you can imagine it by listening to the soundtrack. The sequence is a big part of that effect."^[16]

On December 6 Bird announced a new album Break it Yourself, the follow up to 2009's Noble Beast.^[17]

Influences[link]

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.^[18] His early jazz influences were Johnny Hodges, Lester Young, and Fats Waller.^[19][20] He has also had a number of classical influences such as Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and Bela Bartok.^[21] 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.^[22]

Discography[link]

Bowl of Fire albums[link]

• Thrills (1998)
• Oh! The Grandeur (1999)
• The Swimming Hour (2001)

Solo albums[link]

• Music of Hair (1996)
• Weather Systems (2003)
• & the Mysterious Production of Eggs (2005)
• Armchair Apocrypha (2007, Fat Possum) #76 US
• Noble Beast (2009, Fat Possum) #12 US
• Break it Yourself (2012, Bella Union [UK]; Mom+Pop [US]) #10 US, #46 CAN

Companion album[link]

• Useless Creatures (2010) (bonus disc to Noble Beast)

Live albums[link]

• Fingerlings (2002, Grimsey Records)
• Fingerlings 2 (2004, Grimsey)
• Fingerlings 3 (2006, Grimsey)
• Live at Austin City Limits Music Festival 2007: Andrew Bird (2007, Austin City Limits Music Festival)
• Live In Montreal (2008, Bella Union)
• Fingerlings 4 (2010, Wegawam Music Co.)

EPs and singles[link]

• The Ballad of the Red Shoes (2002)
• Sovay (2005, Fargo Records) – single
• Live at Bonnaroo Music Festival (2006, Live at Bonnaroo Music Festival) – Live EP
• Soldier On (2007) – European tour EP
• Fitz and the Dizzy Spells (2009)
• Anonanimal (2009) – Download only single
• Fake Conversations (2012) – 2011 Tour Live EP