Andrew Bird

So... it's been over a week since my meeting with Andrew Bird. I must say, I never did understand the whole obsession with celebrities thing (eg. Emily's weird crush on Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom). I've also made fun of those kind of people extensively. But... I must say that I now, unfortunately, understand. You see, there's this guy. He is amazingly talented, playing the mandolin, violin (super amazingly), guitar, and he sings. His voice is so smooth, he talks just like he sings. One cannot even talk about him without mentioning his violin playing. When performing, he creates these loops. He plays something, records it using sound pedals, records something else... etc. When all of these different melodies are layered together, it sounds complex, but very beautiful. Then he starts singing, which always has just the amount of expression in it. After he finishes some singing, he'll solo on his guitar or violin... OR he'll whistle. And this isn't just normal "I'm washing the dishes and am bored" whistling. It sounds like something from another world... it just cuts through everything and soaks up your attention. He's not only good at playing his own music with clever lyrics that he wrote, he also is very good at collaborating with other artists. He always seems to know what's right to add in and where. I heard him perform three times at the Calgary Folk Festival, each time being amazed and wishing for more. After his last performance, I knew it was my last time to meet him, so I went up to the stage and said "Hey Andrew Bird!" He turned and had... no expression on his face. I said "Hi, I just wanted to meet you." I shook his hand. He didn't say anything. I asked him the question that thousands of people have probably asked him, I feel like such a dork now, "How many years have you played for." He said, somewhat tiredly, "Since I was four." I said, "Well, I just wanted to say I really like your music, it's really special to me." He said, "Thanks," and turned to walk away. How disappointing! I imagined that meeting my "future husband" would be so much more exciting and special. When you imagine so many things, I guess it just gets out of hand. I saw it differently in my head. I guess I was also disappointed in the lack of response I drew from him. Maybe he was tired, hot, uninterested... any of these things are possible. So much expectation for that one moment though... what a letdown! Maybe I'm also mad at myself because I am not that kind of person (the kind of person that gets a crush over a stranger). As I said before, I've made fun of those people before. I am really hoping that this infatuating is just a passing fancy that will be done with in a couple of weeks. But in the meantime... I guess I'll just watch YouTube videos everynight... and imagine what could've been... what could still be. Here's a video of his performance that day. The sound sucks, but it is still amazing. I have yet to find out what this song is called.