Anything But Pop

Anything but Pop

Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »

Those unwanted influences include just about every note of music recorded in the last 50 years: for now, at least, Bird has dedicated his brain to the music of the early 20th century. And as heard on Bowl of Fire’s new Thrills, the first album in a five-record deal inked early this year with Rykodisc, Bird isn’t merely revisiting the stuff; he’s reinventing it. Country blues, swing, tango, Tin Pan Alley, bebop, Swedish wedding music, Irish fiddling, and other sources are rearranged in a far-reaching but thoroughly organic pastiche–Bird’s mastery of and affection for the material prevent the result from sounding too clever or too schizophrenic.

But by the end of his freshman year at Northwestern University his enthusiasm had waned. The Suzuki method encourages an intuitive grasp of music, while the more traditional program at Northwestern was heavy on theory. Bird felt stifled by the rigidity and began to search for other outlets. He gave up on becoming a concert violinist, but was nevertheless determined to earn a music degree. In his spare time he would explore anything that wasn’t classical or pop: swing, blues, ethnic music. “I would move from one style to another, just focus on it for a few weeks, figure out its ornaments–exploring the difference between Scandinavian versus Breton versus Irish versus Gypsy violin.”

Then, on Monday and Tuesday, Bowl of Fire begins an extended engagement at the Ivanhoe Theatre, where the focus will be on original material. (Mathus will perform at both these shows too, but not at subsequent performances, every Friday from May 22 until the end of June.) For more information call the Prop Theatre at 773-486-7767.