Andrew Bird Stops at Summerstage and More During Summer Tour

Bird will embark on a North American tour this summer with his band Hands of Glory (Tift Merritt, Alan Hampton (bass), Eric Heywood (pedal steel) Kevin O'Donnell (drums)) including dates at Summerstage, Tellurideand Bonnaroo. The tour begins June 6th with a special live appearance on Studio 360 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and two intimate shows at Rough Trade NYC on June 7. Things Are Really Great Here, Sort Of... is available for pre-order here.

The Handsome Family (husband and wife duo Brett and Rennie Sparks) have collaborated as a couple for more than 20 years. The band has garnered widespread critical acclaim, SPIN says "The songs are an effortless blend of vintage country and pre-rock 'n' roll pop, but New Mexico's Handsome Family are no cutesy nostalgia act." Bird, who has long be a fan and first covered their track "Don't Be Scared" in 2003, toured with the band last fall.

Things are Really Great Here, Sort Of... includes an updated rendition of "Don't Be Scared," along with "Far From Any Road," the main title theme song for the HBO series True Detective. Watch The Handsome Family perform their track "So Much Wine" with Bird in Santa Barbara last fallhere.

The new album follows Bird's 2013 release of the seven track EP I Want to See Pulaski at Night, and his 2012 release Hands of Glory, which was dubbed to be "A quiet, careful grower...it blooms into something beautiful." by NPR, while gaining praise from Rolling Stone, calling Bird a man whose "emotional urgency energizes his fluid multi-instrumental elocution."

Chicago-based film score composer, multi-instrumentalist and lyricist, Andrew Bird, picked up his first violin at the age of four and spent his formative years soaking up classical repertoire completely by ear. As a teen Bird became interested in a variety of styles including early jazz, country blues and gypsy music, synthesizing them into his unique brand of pop. Since beginning his recording career in 1997, he has released 11 albums, his first solo record Weather Systems coming in 2003. Bird has gone on to record with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and perform at New York's Carnegie Hall. Most recently Bird composed his first ever film score for the movie Norman (hailed as "a probing, thoughtful score" byThe New York Times; available now on Mom + Pop), contributed to the soundtrack of The Muppets and collaborated with inventor Ian Schneller on Sonic Arboretum, an installation at New York's Guggenheim Museum and Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art.

ANDREW BIRD TOUR
* Andrew Bird solo; with Handsome Family
† Gezelligheid performances with Tift Merritt

June 6 /// Brooklyn Academy of Music /// Brooklyn, NY
June 7 /// Rough Trade /// Brooklyn, NY
June 8 /// Lincoln Theatre /// Washington, DC
June 9 /// Lincoln Theatre /// Washington, DC
June 10 /// Cat's Cradle /// Carrboro, NC
June 12 /// Orange Peel /// Asheville, TN
June 13 /// Bonnaroo /// Manchester, TN
June 15 /// Cain's Ballroom /// Tulsa, OK
June 16 /// The Paramount Theater /// Austin, TX
June 19 /// Chautauqua Community House /// Boulder, CO
June 20 /// Chautauqua Community House /// Boulder, CO
June 21 /// Telluride /// Telluride, CO
July 2 /// Power Center /// Ann Arbor, MI
July 4 /// Toronto Urban Roots Fest /// Toronto, ON
July 5 /// Ottawa Blues Fest /// Ottawa, ON
July 6 /// Jazz Fest /// Montreal, QC
July 8 /// Summerstage /// New York, NY
July 10 /// Spaulding Auditorium at the Hopkins Center /// Hanover, NH
July 11 /// The Klein /// Bridgeport, CT
July 12 /// Lowell Summer Music Series /// Lowell, MA
July 18 /// Vancouver Folk Fest /// Vancouver, BC
July 24 /// Calgary Folk Fest /// Calgary, AB
July 26 /// Interstellar Rodeo /// Edmonton, AB
August 1 /// Henry Miller Library /// Big Sur, CA
August 2 /// Mountain Winery /// Saratoga, CA
August 3 /// Sigmund Stern Grove /// San Francisco, CA
September 19 /// Humphrey's /// San Diego, CA
September 21 /// Hollywood Bowl /// Los Angeles, CA

Visit the official Andrew Bird website (http://www.andrewbird.net/home/) for additional resources.