Andrew Bird and his frequent collaborator Madison Cunningham have announced a new album: Cunningham Bird finds the musicians fully covering Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks’ landmark 1973 album, Buckingham Nicks. Check out Bird and Cunningham’s new versions of “Crying in the Night” and “Crystal” below.
Cunningham Bird is out October 18. Mike Viola produced the album, and he also contributed Wurlitzer, bass and drums; Griffin Goldsmith also played drums and percussion on the new album.
“It’s hard to listen to Buckingham Nicks’ 1973 debut album without trying to imagine it as a prequel to Fleetwood Mac’s legend,” Andrew Bird said in a statement. “It’s hard to listen to this album period, as it’s out-of-print and not available on any streaming services. Yet it’s that youthful ambition and overindulgence that make it fascinating. The best reason to cover anyone is that little part of you that thinks you might do it better. This album epitomizes excess and confidence, and it only made sense to embody that spirit ourselves. The confidence, that is, to mess with an iconic, if underrated gem. Madison is the most talented musician I’ve encountered. She has a restless ear, always looking for a new sound or harmonic twist. Her voice is goosebump inducing, nimble and emotive at any volume. I just had to find the right project for us to go deep on and this is it.”
Madison Cunningham added, “Ever since knowing and playing with Andrew, I’ve wanted to join forces with him independently of our own projects. He’s one of my favorite artists alive and one of the deepest musical collaborators I’ve been lucky enough to have. This buried Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham record found us in a place where we were trying to figure out what we could do together. Unfamiliar with it, but excited by its scarcity on streaming platforms, we decided to take it on from front to back, in our own way. It was unsurprising to me how it ended up becoming one of the most creatively satisfying record-making experiences I’ve had, but the unforeseen bonus was how relevant some of those lyrics would be to my own life in the time of making it. It became a lifeline for me, and I hope we’ve done it justice.”
Andrew Bird and Madison Cunningham have worked together on a handful of projects, including Bird’s albums My Finest Work Yet and Inside Problems, as well as his Hark! EP. Cunningham released her most recent studio album, Revealer, in September 2022, and it earned her a Grammy Award for Best Folk Album.
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Cunningham Bird:
