Molting and Slow Growth with Andrew Bird [REAIR]

LET IT OUT

’Tis the season for a repeat episode. I chose this interview with musician Andrew Bird from the archive because he always reminds me of the holidays. Before I play my 2019 conversation with Bird, I speak about how an episode he recorded in 2020 with Maron impacted me, including his perspective on ‘molting’. Despite the discomfort I felt revisiting something recorded nearly 4 years ago and judging my past self, what Bird shared with me in our conversation feels as relevant today as it did then.

We covered the slow growth he experienced coming up as a musician, discipline in building his career, and how his strict classical violin training required strict adherence to rules—rules he ended up breaking to create his own signature style. He’s extremely prolific: since this interview was released, he's put out 4 additional albums, including his HARK! which I talk about in the introduction.

In this interview, we focused on My Finest Work Yet, which had just come out. Like all his albums, it’s filled with smart lyrics and mythology (which we talk about in this episode) as well as fresh melodies and probing themes. Recorded in a crowded room at a music festival, the sound is different than usual. And you might notice some odd jumps from topic to topic as we made the best of the audio we had. You’ll hear us jump around from how he writes songs, to how he met his wife, how he spends his mornings, parents his son, and of course, how he began incorporating whistling. Happy Holidays!

Show Notes:

- A couple spots left in my one-on-one Creative Clinic: book a free half-hour session with me here to see if it's a good fit

- Find Andrew on the Web | Instagram | Spotify

- Andrew's 2020 Christmas album, HARK!

- Andrew's episode on Marc Maron's podcast

- My Finest Work Yet & the song "Sisyphus"

- Andrew's interview on Sam Jones' podcast

- Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

- The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow

- Lester Young

- 2023 Holiday Workshops & all the Let It Out Kits

- The TALK KIT is coming soon: sign up for the waitlist

- Subscribe to our Substack to get show notes + essays, etc. sent to your inbox

- This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp: visit betterhelp.com/letitout to get 10% off your first month of online therapy

If you liked this episode, try out from the archive:

- Episode 424 with Sam Burton

- Episode 418 with Cale Tyson