Andrew Bird has been an anomaly in music since the mid-90s, meshing folk sounds with blues sounds with pop sounds, and doing most of it on his own, employing his violin skills, vocal skills, guitar skills and whistling skills into most of his music.
He’s a very private personality with a potent fan following, most accurately illustrated at one of the many music festivals the man plays at. Appropriately, Bird’s music documentary, Fever Year, began its life recently at the New York Film Festival, and may end its life within the festival circuit. This means no Video on Demand release, no DVD with special Behind-The-Scenes whatever and no one-week run at the IFC theater in New York City.
Directed by Xan Aranda – this is her directorial debut, after helping Bird with some of his music videos – the filmmaker has stated that it is Bird’s wish to show the film only at festivals, and then never again. And though the existence of a trailer would suggest otherwise (as trailers, by their nature, are produced to attract attention), it all feels very final.
Bird just finished the score to Jonathan Segal‘s indie feature Norman as well (trailer & our review here). His most recent solo album is 2009’s superb Noble Beast.
Below is the trailer for Fever Year via indieWIRE:
Are you an Andrew Bird fan? What do you think of the film festival-only route?