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East Indiaman Kent battling Confiance, a privateer vessel commanded by French corsair Robert Surcouf in October 1800, as depicted in a painting by Ambroise Louis Garneray.

A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers. They were of great benefit to a smaller naval power or one facing an enemy dependent on trade: they disrupted commerce and pressured the enemy to deploy warships to protect merchant trade against commerce raiders. The cost was borne by investors hoping to profit from prize money earned from captured cargo and vessels. The proceeds would be distributed among the privateer's investors, officers, and crew. It has been argued that privateering was a less destructive and wasteful form of warfare, because the goal was to capture ships rather than to sink them.^[1]

Privateers were part of naval warfare from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Some privateers have been particularly influential in the annals of history. Sometimes the vessels would be commissioned into regular service as warships. The crew of a privateer might be treated as prisoners of war by the enemy country if captured.

[edit] Legal framework

Being privately owned and run, privateers did not take orders from the Naval command. The letter of marque of a privateer would typically limit activity to a specific area and to the ships of specific nations. Typically, the owners or captain would be required to post a performance bond against breaching these conditions, or they might be liable to pay damages to an injured party. In the United Kingdom, letters of marque were revoked for various offences.

Conditions on board privateers varied widely. Some crews were treated as harshly as naval crews of the time, while others followed the comparatively relaxed rules of merchant ships. Some crews were made up of professional merchant seamen, others of pirates, debtors, and convicts. Some privateers ended up becoming pirates, not just in the eyes of their enemies but also of their own nations. William Kidd, for instance, began as a legitimate British privateer but was later hanged for piracy.

The Paris Declaration Respecting Maritime Law of 16 April 1856 was issued to abolish privateering. It regulated the relationship between neutral and belligerent and shipping on the high seas introducing new prize rules.^[2]

[edit] Ships

Entrepreneurs converted many different types of vessels into privateers, including obsolete warships and refitted merchant ships. The investors would arm the vessels and recruit large crews, much larger than a merchantman or a naval vessel would carry, in order to crew the prizes they captured. Privateers generally cruised independently, but it was not unknown for them to form squadrons, or to co-operate with the regular navy. A number of privateers were part of the English fleet that opposed the Spanish Armada in 1588. Privateers generally avoided encounters with warships, as such encounters would be at best unprofitable. Still, such encounters did occur. For instance, in 1815 Chasseur encountered HMS St Lawrence, herself a former American privateer, mistaking her for a merchantman until too late; in this instance, the privateer prevailed.

The United States used mixed squadrons of frigates and privateers in the American Revolutionary War. Following the French Revolution, French privateers became a menace to British and American shipping in the western Atlantic and the Caribbean, resulting in the Quasi-War, a brief conflict between France and the United States, fought largely at sea, and to the Royal Navy's procuring Bermuda sloops to combat the French privateers.^[3]

[edit] Overall history

16th century trade routes prey to privateering: Spanish treasure fleets linking the Caribbean to Seville, Manila-Acapulco galleons started in 1568 (white) and rival Portuguese India Armadas of 1498-1640 (blue)

England, and later the United Kingdom, used privateers to great effect and suffered much from other nations' privateering. In the late 16th century, English ships cruised in the Caribbean and off the coast of Spain, trying to intercept treasure fleets from the Spanish Main. At this early stage the idea of a regular navy (the Royal Navy, as distinct from the Merchant Navy) was not present, so there is little to distinguish the activity of English privateers from regular naval warfare. Attacking Spanish ships, even during peacetime, was part of a policy of military and economic competition with Spain - which had been monopolizing the maritime trade routes by enforcing a mare clausum policy along with the Portuguese - and helped provoke the first Anglo-Spanish War. Capturing a Spanish treasure ship would enrich the Crown as well as strike a practical blow against Spanish domination of America. Magnus Heinason was one privateer who served the Dutch against the Spanish. While his and others' attacks brought home a great deal of money, they hardly dented the flow of gold and silver from Mexico to Spain.

Elizabeth was succeeded by the first Stuart monarchs, James I and Charles I, who did not permit privateering. There were a number of unilateral and bilateral declarations limiting privateering between 1785 and 1823. However, the breakthrough came in 1856 when the Declaration of Paris, signed by all major European powers, stated that "Privateering is and remains abolished". The USA did not sign because a stronger amendment, protecting all private property from capture at sea, was not accepted. In the 19th century many nations passed laws forbidding their nationals from accepting commissions as privateers for other nations. The last major power to flirt with privateering was Prussia in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War, when Prussia announced the creation of a 'volunteer navy' of ships privately owned and manned and eligible for prize money. The only difference between this and privateering was that these volunteer ships were under the discipline of the regular navy.

[edit] 17th and 18th centuries

CSS Savannah, a Confederate privateer.

Privateers were a large part of the total military force at sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. In the first Anglo-Dutch War, English privateers attacked the trade on which the United Provinces entirely depended, capturing over 1,000 Dutch merchant ships. During the subsequent war with Spain, Spanish and Flemish privateers in the service of the Spanish Crown, including the notorious Dunkirkers, captured 1,500 English merchant ships, helping to restore Dutch international trade.^[4] British trade, whether coastal, Atlantic, or Mediterranean, was also attacked by Dutch privateers and others in the Second and Third Anglo-Dutch wars.

During King George's War, approximately 36,000 Americans served aboard privateers at one time or another.^[5] During the Nine Years War, the French adopted a policy of strongly encouraging privateers, including the famous Jean Bart, to attack English and Dutch shipping. England lost roughly 4,000 merchant ships during the war.^[5] In the following War of Spanish Succession, privateer attacks continued, Britain losing 3,250 merchant ships.^[6] Parliament passed an updated Cruisers and Convoys Act in 1708 allocating regular warships to the defence of trade.

In the subsequent conflict, the War of Austrian Succession, the Royal Navy was able to concentrate more on defending British ships. Britain lost 3,238 merchantmen, a smaller fraction of her merchant marine than the enemy losses of 3,434.^[5] While French losses were proportionally severe, the smaller but better protected Spanish trade suffered the least and it was Spanish privateers who enjoyed much of the best allied plunder of British trade, particularly in the West Indies.

[edit] Britain

England and Scotland separately, and together after they united to create the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707, practised privateering. It was a way to gain for themselves some of the wealth the Spanish and Portuguese were taking from the New World before beginning their own trans-Atlantic settlement, and a way to assert naval power before a strong Royal Navy emerged.

Sir Andrew Barton, Lord High Admiral of Scotland, followed the example of his father, who had been issued with letters of marque by James III of Scotland to prey upon English and Portuguese shipping in 1485; the letters in due course were reissued to the son. Barton was killed following an encounter with the English in 1511.

Sir Francis Drake, who had close contact with the sovereign, was responsible for some damage to Spanish shipping, as well as attacks on Spanish settlements in the Americas in the 16th century. He participated in the successful English defence against the Spanish Armada in 1588, though he was also partly responsible for the failure of the English Armada against Spain in 1589.

Sir George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland was a successful privateer against Spanish shipping in the Caribbean. He is also famous for his short-lived 1598 capture of Fort San Felipe del Morro, the citadel protecting San Juan, Puerto Rico. He arrived in Puerto Rico on June 15, 1598, but by November of that year Clifford and his men had fled the island due to fierce civilian resistance. He gained sufficient prestige from his naval exploits to be named the official Champion of Queen Elizabeth I. Clifford became extremely wealthy through his buccaneering, but lost most of his money gambling on horse races.

Captain Christopher Newport led more attacks on Spanish shipping and settlements than any other English privateer. As a young man, Newport sailed with Sir Francis Drake in the attack on the Spanish fleet at Cadiz and participated in England’s defeat of the Spanish Armada. During the war with Spain, Newport seized fortunes of Spanish and Portuguese treasure in fierce sea battles in the West Indies as a privateer for Queen Elizabeth I. In 1592, Newport captured the Portuguese carrack Madre de Deus (Mother of God), valued at £500,000.

Sir Henry Morgan was a successful privateer. Operating out of Jamaica, he carried on a war against Spanish interests in the region, often using cunning tactics. His operation was prone to cruelty against those he captured, including torture to gain information about booty, and in one case using priests as human shields. Despite reproaches for some of his excesses, he was generally protected by Sir Thomas Modyford, the governor of Jamaica. He took an enormous amount of booty, as well as landing his privateers ashore and attacking land fortifications, including the sack of the city of Panama with only 1,400 crew^{[citation needed]}.

Other British privateers of note include Fortunatus Wright, Edward Collier, Sir John Hawkins, his son Sir Richard Hawkins, Michael Geare, and Sir Christopher Myngs. Notable British colonial privateers in Nova Scotia include Alexander Godfrey of the brig Rover and Joseph Barss of the schooner Liverpool Packet. The latter schooner captured over 50 American vessels during the War of 1812.

[edit] Bermudians

The English colony of Bermuda, settled accidentally in 1609, turned from a failed agricultural economy to the sea after the 1684 dissolution of the Somers Isles Company. With a total area of 21 square miles (54 km²) and lacking any natural resources other than the Bermuda cedar, the colonists applied themselves fully to the maritime trades, developing the speedy Bermuda sloop, which was well suited both to commerce and to commerce raiding. Bermudian merchant vessels turned to privateering at every opportunity in the 18th century, preying on the shipping of Spain, France, and other nations during a series of wars^[vague]. By the middle of the eighteenth century, Bermuda was sending twice as many privateers to sea as any of the continental colonies. They typically left Bermuda with very large crews. This advantage in manpower was vital in seizing larger vessels, which themselves often lacked enough crewmembers to put up a strong defence. The extra crewmen were also useful as prize crews for returning captured vessels.

The Bahamas, which had been depopulated of its indigenous inhabitants by the Spanish, had been settled by England, beginning with the Eleutheran Adventurers, dissident Puritans driven out of Bermuda during the English Civil War. Spanish and French attacks destroyed New Providence in 1703, creating a stronghold for pirates, and it became a thorn in the side of British merchant trade through the area. In 1718, Britain appointed Woodes Rogers Governor of the Bahamas, and sent him at the head of a force to reclaim the settlement. Before his arrival, however, the pirates had been forced to surrender by a force of Bermudian privateers who had been issued letters of marque by the Governor of Bermuda.

Bermuda was under the de facto control of the Turks Islands, with their lucrative salt industry, from the late 17th century to the early 19th. The Bahamas made perpetual attempts to claim the Turks for itself. On several occasions, this involved seizing the vessels of Bermudian salt traders. A virtual state of war was said to exist between Bermudian and Bahamian vessels for much of the 18th Century. When the Bermudian sloop Seaflower was seized by the Bahamians in 1701, the response of Bermuda Governor Bennett was to issue letters of marque to Bermudian vessels. In 1706, Spanish and French forces ousted the Bermudians, but were driven out themselves three years later by the Bermudian privateer Captain Lewis Middleton. His ship, the Rose, attacked a Spanish and a French privateer holding a captive English vessel. Defeating the two enemy vessels, the Rose then cleared out the thirty-man garrison left by the Spanish and French.^[7]

Despite strong sentiments in support of the rebels, especially in the early stages, Bermudian privateers turned as aggressively on American shipping during the American War of Independence. The importance of privateering to the Bermudian economy had been increased not only by the loss of most of Bermuda's continental trade, but also by the Palliser Act, which forbade Bermudian vessels from fishing the Grand Banks. Bermudian trade with the rebellious American colonies actually carried on throughout the war. Some historians credit the large number of Bermuda sloops (reckoned at over a thousand) built in Bermuda as privateers and sold illegally to the Americans as enabling the rebellious colonies to win their independence.^[8] Also, the Americans were dependent on Turks salt, and one hundred barrels of gunpowder were stolen from a Bermudian magazine and supplied to the rebels at the request of George Washington, in exchange for which the Continental Congress authorised the sale of supplies to Bermuda, which was dependent on American produce. The realities of this interdependence did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm with which Bermudian privateers turned on their erstwhile countrymen.

An American naval captain,^[who?] ordered to take his ship out of Boston Harbor to eliminate a pair of Bermudian privateering vessels that had been picking off vessels missed by the Royal Navy, returned frustrated, saying, "the Bermudians sailed their ships two feet for every one of ours".^[9] A pair of Bermudian-born brothers,^[who?] captaining two sloops, carried out the only attack on Bermuda during the war; all they achieved before they retreated was to damage a fort and spike its guns.

When the Americans captured the Bermudian privateer Regulator, they discovered that virtually all of her crew were black slaves. Authorities in Boston offered these men their freedom, but all 70 elected to be treated as prisoners of war. Sent as such to New York on the sloop Duxbury, they seized the vessel and sailed it back to Bermuda.

The American War of 1812 saw an encore of Bermudian privateering, which had died out after the 1790s. The decline of Bermudian privateering was due partly to the buildup of the naval base in Bermuda, which reduced the Admiralty's reliance on privateers in the western Atlantic, and partly to successful American legal suits and claims for damages pressed against British privateers, a large portion of which were aimed squarely at the Bermudians.^[10] During the course of the American War of 1812, Bermudian privateers captured 298 ships, some 19% of the 1,593 vessels captured by British naval and privateering vessels between the Great Lakes and the West Indies.^[11]

[edit] United States

Pride of Baltimore II, replica United States topsail schooner, favored by privateers for its speed and ability to sail close to the wind.

During the American Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress, and some state governments (on their own initiative), issued privateering licenses, authorizing "legal piracy", to merchant captains in an effort to take prizes from the British Navy and Tory (Loyalist) privateers. This was done due to the relatively small number of commissioned American naval vessels and the pressing need for prisoner exchange.

About 55,000 American seamen served aboard the privateers.^[12] They quickly sold their prizes, dividing their profits with the financier (persons or company) and the state (colony). Long Island Sound became a hornets' nest of privateering activity during the American Revolution (1775–1783), as most transports to and from New York went through the Sound. New London, Connecticut was a chief privateering port for the American colonies, leading to the British Navy blockading it in 1778-1779. Chief financiers of privateering included Thomas & Nathaniel Shaw of New London and John McCurdy of Lyme. In the months before the British raid on New London and Groton, a New London privateer took Hannah in what is regarded as the largest prize taken by any American privateer during the war. Retribution was likely part of Gov. Clinton's (NY) motivation for Arnold's Raid, as the Hannah had carried many of his most cherished items.

Naval battle off Halifax, Nova Scotia

American privateers are thought to have seized up to 300 British ships during the war. One of the more successful of these ships was the Prince de Neufchatel, which once captured nine British prizes in swift succession in the English Channel.^{[citation needed]} The British ship Jack was captured and turned into an American privateer, only to be captured again by the British in the naval battle off Halifax, Nova Scotia. American privateers not only fought naval battles but also raided numerous communities in British colonies, such as the Raid on Lunenburg, Nova Scotia (1782).

The United States Constitution authorized the U.S. Congress to grant letters of marque and reprisal. Between the end of the Revolutionary War and 1812, less than 30 years, Britain, France, Naples, the Barbary States, Spain, and the Netherlands seized approximately 2,500 American ships.^[13] Payments in ransom and tribute to the Barbary states amounted to 20% of United States government annual revenues in 1800,^[14] and would lead the United States to crush the Barbary states in the Barbary Wars.

During the War of 1812, the British attacked Essex, Connecticut, and burned the ships in the harbor, due to the construction there of a number of privateers. This was the greatest financial loss of the entire War of 1812 suffered by the Americans. However, the private fleet of James De Wolf, which sailed under the flag of the American government in 1812, was most likely a key factor in the victorious naval campaign of the war. De Wolf's ship, the Yankee, was possibly the most financially successful ship of the war.

James De Wolf

The US was not one of the initial signatories of the 1856 Declaration of Paris which outlawed privateering, and the Confederate Constitution authorized use of privateers. However, the USA did offer to adopt the terms of the Declaration during the American Civil War, when the Confederates sent several privateers to sea before putting their main effort in the more effective commissioned raiders.

No letter of marque has been legitimately issued by the United States since the nineteenth century. The status of submarine hunting Goodyear airships in the early days of the second world war has created significant confusion. According to one story, the United States Navy issued a Letter of Marque to the Airship Resolute on the West Coast of the United States at the beginning of World War II, making it the first time the US Navy commissioned a privateer since the War of 1812.^[15] However, this story, along with various other accounts referring to the airships Resolute and Volunteer as operating under a "privateer status", is highly dubious. Since neither the Congress nor the President appears to have authorized a privateer during the war, the Navy would not have had the authority to do so by itself.^[16]

[edit] Cultural influence

The University of New Orleans sports teams are referred to as the "UNO Privateers."

The State University of New York Maritime College mascot is a Privateer, and their sports teams are referred to as "The Privateers."

The Thousand Islands Privateers are a professional hockey team 0f the Federal Hockey League, founded in 2010.

[edit] In fiction

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Notions of privateering have provided a rich and often colourful source for contemporary culture in exploring social history or providing vehicles for entertainment. Authors of historical fiction offer many instances where Horatio Hornblower, a British Royal Navy officer created by C. S. Forester, engaged in numerous encounters with privateers. Patrick O'Brian's "The Letter of Marque" is set during the Napoleonic Wars. The protagonist in Michael Crichton's Pirate Latitudes is a privateer. The hero of naval historian C. Northcote Parkinson's first novel, The Devil to Pay, commands a small privateer.

Science fiction writer Poul Anderson in his book The Star Fox, conjures a future in which the system of letters of marque is revived and "space privateers" battle in starships.

Star Trek references privateering, where a Federation ship is destroyed by Breen privateers.

In the 2011 film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Hector Barbossa is a privateer on behalf of King George II.

In his 2011 debut novel The Privateers, Phillip Visnansky explored the modern use of privateers to counter terrorist threats from Al Qaeda.

[edit] See also

• Auxiliary cruiser
• Armed merchantman
• Barbary pirates
• Corsair
• Commerce raiding
• Dunkirkers
• Fortunatus Wright
• Letter of marque
• Mercenary
• Piracy
• Reprisal
• William Kidd

[edit] Notes

[edit] Further reading

• Faye Kert, Prize and Prejudice Privateering and Naval Prize in Atlantic Canada in the War of 1812. Research in maritime history, no. 11. St. John's, Nfld: International Maritime Economic History Association, 1997.
• A. Bryant Nichols Jr., Captain Christopher Newport: Admiral of Virginia, Sea Venture, 2007
• Smith, Joshua M. Battle for the Bay: The Naval War of 1812 (Fredericton, NB: Goose Lane Editions, 2011).
• Ross, Nicholas. "The Provision of Naval Defense in the Early American Republic: A Comparison of the U.S. Navy and Privateers, 1789–1815." The Independent Review 16, no. 3 (Winter), 2011.

[edit] External links

• The Library of Economics & Liberty: PRIVATEERING - 1899 Encyclopaedia entry.
• The Bermudian: Bermuda in the Privateering Business, by Lt. Col. Gavin Shorto
• The Canadian Privateering Home Page
• American Privateers in The War Of 1812 Investigates the myths and facts behind a sea battle which some sources contend changed the course of the War of 1812 and the future of America. Includes an extensive examination of the legal and tactical aspects of privateering.
• Andrew Sherburne's Experiences on a Privateer During the Revolutionary War
• Privateers of Voyage Century Online
• Modern Day Privateering and Its Affect on Democracy
• Jameson, John Franklin.
• Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period: Illustrative Documents at Project Gutenberg.
• Essay Sample: The History of Privateering
• Who Begat Whom: Hezekiah Frith

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.

[edit] History

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

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]

[edit] Early solo career (2003–2005)

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.

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

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]

[edit] Break It Yourself (2011–present)

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] It's 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]

In March 2012, Bird and his group sang the song "Eyeoneye" on the Colbert Report.

[edit] Influences

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]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Bowl of Fire albums

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

[edit] Solo albums

• 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

[edit] Companion album

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

[edit] Live albums

• 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.)

[edit] EPs and singles

• 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

[edit] 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 Blacks – Just Like Home (2000, Bloodshot)
• 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)
• Nora O'Connor – Til the Dawn (2004, Bloodshot)
• 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 – (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^[23] (2009)
• Dark Was the Night – "The Giant of Illinois" (Red Hot Organization, 2009)
• Live at KEXP Vol.5 – Oh No (2009)[5]
• 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)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Andrew Bird

• Official site
• Andrew Bird recording "Break It Yourself" at MetroSonic in Brooklyn, NY