On this episode, we sit down with singer/songwriter/composer/whistler Andrew Bird, who released his most recent album "My Finest Work Yet" in March. He shares his memories of reading Russian literature and listening to violin concertos during his early days as a non-conformist in school, and recalls taking a beating in grade school over his refusal to say swear words.
It wasn't until he was out of high school and playing clubs with a ska band that Bird says he learned that being different could be an advantage. "All the band geeks and high school outcasts suddenly became the hipsters," he recalls. "Those were the freaks in high school, and they continued to be freaks, but they weren't getting their asses kicked by the jocks anymore."
Bird also shares how smelling "a gnarly little thicket" of grass and leaves while biking the lakefront in Milwaukee brought back memories of his childhood. "There's this particular smell that took me back that I don't smell in California at all," he said.
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