Andrew Bird Talks Songwriting And Emotional Risk

Montana Public Radio | By Clare Menahan

Published September 9, 2016 at 1:33 PM MDT

Andrew Bird with violin, 2009. Credit Dani CantÃ³ (CC-BY-SA-2)

Multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Andrew Bird spoke with MTPR's Clare Menahan before his show in Missoula earlier this month. Hailing from Lake Forest, Illinois, Bird is a classically trained violinist who also incorporates guitar, glockenspiel — and whistling — into his music.

Bird talks about his new album, "Are You Serious," (a personal reflection on marriage, fatherhood and cancer?) and discusses his writing process, Richard Strauss, love, loopers, and Matt Berninger of indie-rock group, The National.

Clare Menahan

Clare Menahan lives in Missoula, where she attends the University of Montana and supplements her income working as a freelance musician, seasonal backcountry ranger and ski instructor. She has worked in the art studios of Margaret Regan, Rebecca Hutchinson-Shaw and Lisa Ernst as an assistant. Clare also spent a year serving as the student representative for the Helena School Board and the Helena Education Foundation.

See stories by Clare Menahan