Andrew Bird has become a staple of the folk and Americana music scenes since self-releasing his first solo album, Music of Hair, in August 1996. That came two months before the birth of Madison Cunningham, whose 2022 release, Revealer, won the 2023 Grammy for Best Folk Album and put her firmly among the most prominent voices in her field at just 26 years old.
On its face, that 23-year age gap would seem to make Andrew Bird and Madison Cunningham a strange fit for bandmates. But if their pitch-perfect performance at The Bellwether, Los Angeles’ newest venue, as part of the Inside Problems Tour is any indication, these two are ideally suited to bridge the divide for generations of folk fans.
To be sure, this was Andrew’s headlining show, with Madison joining bassist Anna Butters and drummer Ted Poor in support. The quartet combined to play a panoply of Andrew’s idiosyncratic hits, with a particular focus on tracks from 2022’s Inside Problems.
Following a brief instrumental introduction with Andrew on violin, he and his band busted into the distinctive trio of “Make a Picture”, “Lone Didion”, and “Atomized”, all of which helped to mark last year’s release as yet another brilliant milestone in a catalog clogged with them.
Related: Andrew Bird & Phoebe Bridgers Reimagine Emily Dickinson Poem On New Single [Video]
After diverging slightly back to 2019’s My Finest Work Yet with “Bloodless”, Andrew and company returned to the newer works of “Underlands” and “The Night Before Your Birthday” before diving into 2016’s Are You Serious for a deep cut of “Valleys of the Young”.
Though Madison lent her pure pipes to Andrew’s backing throughout the show, the 26-year-old Orange County native didn’t truly step into the spotlight as her elder bandmate’s equal until the midpoint. It was then that the four members huddled together around a central mic—with Andrew switching back from acoustic guitar to violin and Anna trading in her electric bass for an old-fashioned upright one—and Madison ably assumed the role of Fiona Apple on “Left-Handed Kisses” from 2016’s Are You Serious.
Everyone in the band pitched in to replicate the country contributions of Rufus Wainwright and Chris Stills on “Harvest”. Andrew, though, needed no vocal assistance to whistle through “Lusitania”, off 2012’s Break It Yourself, and right into the now-iconic melody of “Sisyphus”. He largely remained the focus for “Three White Horses” and “Armchairs”, and brought the group together in tight rhythmic unison for a rousing rendition of “Pulaski”, with Madison adding to the harmonies, to close out the main set.
For the encore, Andrew circled back to Inside Problems with “Never Fall Apart” and sent the audience off into the night with the triumphant violin and rising vocals of “Capsized”.
Along the way, Andrew and his crew made surprisingly strong use of the visual bells and whistles that The Bellwether put at their disposal. They used the state-of-the-art lighting rig to cast long shadows of the band and a spinning gramophone onto the rear of the stage. That screen also came in handy for projecting images of the moon, as well as a curious pattern beneath those aforementioned shadows.
As much as Madison did to put her stamp on the show—and, in turn, the modern folk Americana sound—Andrew remained inimitable in his capacity as a central player. While his eyes seemed sewn shut for most of the performance, his sound was impeccable, whether plucking his violin, strumming his guitar, singing outright, or whistling to the high heavens, as if to live up to his last name.
Fans of Andrew’s on the East Coast got their fill of his distinct sound and style during the spring leg of his tour. Now, those in the western half of North America who can’t wait to hear him, Madison, and the rest of their band will have the chance as the Inside Problems Tour continues through the summer, with stops in California, Oregon, Montana, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming, as well as western Canada and a hometown show in Evanston, IL.
Madison, meanwhile, will embark on a run of solo festival appearances before joining Hozier and John Mayer on their respective tours—burnishing her burgeoning folk and Americana credentials all the while.
Check out a gallery of images of Andrew Bird and Madison Cunningham in L.A. courtesy of photographer Josh Martin.
