Arvel Bird
"Braveheart Meets Last of the Mohicans . . . at Woodstock" is a colorful description of this award-winning Celtic Indian Arvel Bird‰Ûªs live performances.åÊ With his violin, fiddle, Native flutes and Irish whistles, Bird weaves a powerful tapestry of music and stories. He performs nearly 160 shows a year at a variety of venues from music festivals to concert halls where the audience gets a glimpse into his Native American heart and Scottish soul.
Classically trained as a violinist, Arvel Bird's compositions and performances encompass an extraordinary love of diversity ‰ÛÓ from traditional Celtic tunes and bluegrass standards to his original Native American and Celtic rock orchestrations.
Although it's caused some creative marketing in branding him, Bird is unwavering when it comes to identifying himself as "Celtic Indian".åÊ He's been combining his Celtic and American Indian cultures with music and stories since 2001.åÊ
In his youth, Bird‰Ûªs first private violin teacher in Salt Lake City, UT encouraged him to play from his soul. Prophetically, she said, ‰ÛÏArvel, no one will remember if you‰Ûªre the best or the fastest, but they will remember your passion.‰Û�
Bird attended Arizona State University on music scholarship later transferring to Champagne/ Urbana, IL where he studied classical violin with renowned Hungarian violin master, Paul Rolland at the University of Illinois. During his years in the Midwest, Bird won the Indiana State Fiddle Contest four times while still perfecting a variety of musical styles.
As he worked to develop his own music style and a large and loyal following, Bird went wherever the music called him, which led him away from classical and towards Bluegrass, Appalachian, Folk and Celtic. Once he began composing and recording his own music, the result was a fusion of both his Scottish (Clan Kennedy) and Native American (Southern Paiute) roots that are uniquely his own and intricately woven throughout his songs.
Bird returned to Arizona in 1986 and toured with Glen Campbell worldwide for the next six years. During this time, he made the move to Nashville, TN, for more studio recording experience, and later added tours with Loretta Lynn, Tom T. Hall, Ray Price, Louise Mandrell, Clay Walker, and others.
One of Bird's favorite aspects of touring is that it has provided him with experiences in many exciting places meeting incredible friends along the way -- Scotland, England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and in prestigious locations including the SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, Royal Albert Hall in London, England, Smithsonian Museums in DC and NY, Hochstein Performance Hall in Rochester, NY and the Kennedy Space Center in Cocoa, FL just to name a few -- with symphonies, chamber orchestras, large festivals and more, logging over 500,000 road miles. As he winds up 12 years of full-time touring, Bird gives no indication he‰Ûªs ready to slow down. In fact, later this year, he will be making his debut in Scandanavia for a two week tour.
Bird has released 23 CDs, two EPs and two DVDs, earning him numerous music awards. One of his most cherished is for, Tribal Music Suite: Journey of a Paiute, a Celtic and Native American concerto, that earned him Best Instrumental Album and Best Producer/Engineer (with Grammy-winning producer Tom Wasinger and Nashville engineer Chas Williams) at the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards. Other awards include Artist of the Year as voted by peers and fans as well as numerous Best Instrumentals. åÊ
His continuously evolving music is delighting audiences worldwide. Bird is planning the release of two more CDs in 2015; a world music CD titled ‰ÛÏAnimal Totems 3‰Û�, for which he successful ran a crowdfunding campaign, and a ‰ÛÏCeltic Indian‰Û�, both long awaited albums.
During his 13 years in Nashville, Bird built a master recording studio to help him launch his own independent record label, Singing Wolf Records, to support his future recordings. Initially this gave him his own haven to write and record his original music and later to record hundreds of songs and album projects for songwriters and independent artists all over the world.
Still based in Nashville, TN, Bird is permanently on the road, connecting with audiences the old-fashioned way. . . live. This is where Arvel‰Ûªs emotionally driven performances thrive, igniting concert venues, symphony halls, festivals and more, leaving his audiences inspired, transfixed and transformed.