'Bird' is the word.

Andrew Bird: one of the greatest musical minds to ever walk this planet.

Personal fact time: I love Andrew Bird.
I know it's silly to try and throw the word "love" around as casually as I do (does that make me a whore?), but I really do have a love for Andrew Bird. Or his music, at least.
I only recently discovered Bird, at around the same time that I found out that you can actually buy music from iTunes giftcards (yes, I have been living under a rock all of my life). His name caught my eye on the iTunes store front page, so I decided to check out some of his music on Myspace and Imeem.
And so I was swept away. His combination of violin, guitar, whistling and (as I later found out) glockenspiel made for extremely unique and exciting music. Not only was it exciting, it was (wait for it)... comfortable to listen to. Bird's voice, the violin and the whistling all create very organic sounds that are only interrupted by the mechanic sound of the guitar and the glockenspiel, blending and balancing nicely to make for a soothing sound.
This is probably why I jumped when I saw that the summer schedule for Los Angeles' Greek Theatre included a concert by Bird (and Chris Botti, but that's a whole other blog). I jumped at the chance to finally see an artist I had constantly put on repeat.
After months of planning, inviting and persuading, my dad finally bought the tickets. This week alone, I have spent hours watching Andrew Bird performances and listening to his albums on my iPod to 'prepare.'
On Friday, I will attend my first ever concert, along with the wonderful Jessica, to see my favorite musician in his most natural state: making music.
I'm excited.

For more Andrew Bird info, visit http://www.andrewbird.net/