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Andrew Bird first picked up a violin at age four and proceeded to spend his formative years soaking up classical repertoire completely by ear. As a teen, Bird mastered the sounds of early jazz, country blues and gypsy music. All these influences still percolate within Bird’s brand of pop, but he has established a sound that is distinctly his own. Since 1997 the Chicago-based composer and multi-instrumentalist has released 11 albums, garnering a devoted following with his early band Bowl of Fire before venturing out with his first solo record, 2003’s Weather Systems. It was with this release that Bird began using a looping pedal to combine densely layered symphonies onstage and revealed his unearthly talent for whistling. Bird has gone on to record with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band as well as collaborate with inventor Ian Schneller on the Sonic Arboretum installation at New York’s Guggenheim Museum and Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art. We're looking forward to another astounding performance in the hallowed halls of the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn. on Monday, March 19.