Ladies and gentlemen, it's Andrew Bird.

Three years ago, on Martin Luther King Day, I went to breakfast at IHOP with my friend and former roommate, Bryan Hicks, and his then girlfriend, Lindsey, along with some of her roommates. While Bryan and I competed to see who could eat the most pancakes (I lost eleven to nine), I spoke a little with some of Lindsey's friends about music. We discovered that we had some common musical interest, though I didn't pursue that connection as much as I should have for some reason. One of the artists that was brought up was Andrew Bird. At the time, I had heard of him and read favorable reviews on the internet, but had yet to actually hear any of his music. I was told that I needed to listen to him right away.

Not long after that I acquired an album of his and started listening. I was quickly hooked. Andrew Bird is a multi-instrumentalist, proficient in violin, whistling, guitar, mandolin, and glockenspiel. His music is tough to categorize. It's very distinct; once you know what his sound is like, you will instantly recognize his music. In fact, my iTunes just randomly shuffled to one of his songs right now.

Bird played a free concert this summer in Salt Lake as part of the Gallivan Twilight Concert series, a series of free concerts every Thursday night in July and August at the Gallivan Center in downtown Salt Lake. I highly recommend catching one of those shows. They had a great lineup this past summer, and I'm looking forward to another stellar lineup this summer. Anyway, Bird's show was really great. He puts on a very good show while maintaining the complexity of his music. Seeing his songs reproduced live as he plays both guitar and violin, uses pedals to record and playback loops, and sings and whistles is an experience.

I bring this up, not just because I want to introduce his music to more people, but because Mr. Bird is returning to Utah. He has a show scheduled for February 25th at the Murray Theater, and I am very excited to see him playing in an actual club. It should be a great show. For those of you who have not listened to Andrew Bird or aren't as familiar with his music as you would like, I have assembled a mix of my favorite songs from two of his albums, 2005's The Mysterious Production of Eggs and 2007's Armchair Apocrypha. Bird has a new album recently released called Noble Beast. It used to be available in its entirety on NPR's website, but I just looked and it is no longer available. Bummer. Noble Beast is a grower; it didn't immediately resonate with me, but repeated listens have revealed the album's strengths and lasting power.

Anyone who likes Andrew Bird's music should come to the show. Tickets are approximately $20. I've already got mine, and I know at least a couple people besides myself will be going. Transportation shouldn't be much of an issue, so don't worry if you need a ride.

The Best of Andrew Bird Mix