Wallis Bird
Wallis Bird (born 29 January 1982) is an Irish musician, living in Berlin since 2012. As of 2021, she has released six studio albums, including "Architect" in 2014 and "Home" in 2016. Early life. Bird came into touch with music at age six months old and she when received her first guitar from her father. Born left-handed, she lost all five fingers of her left hand in a lawnmower accident; four were sewn back on. She became used to playing a right-handed guitar upside-down, which contributes to her unconventional style of playing. The Irish Times  wrote: “The sheer visceral energy could kick-start an entire economy…” After school Bird moved to Dublin to study songwriting at Ballyfermot Rock School. Here she met fellow band member Aoife O'Sullivan. During that time she kept on playing in small clubs or pubs as well as at major festivals. In 2005, she moved to Germany, met her management Karakter Worldwide and other musicians, and formed a new supporting band, including brothers Christian and Michael Vinne. After first touring Berlin, London, Dublin, Cork, Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Mannheim she decided to stay in Mannheim, where she lived for a year and  a half. From 2006 to 2012, Bird lived in London. In 2008 the band was joined by Irish/Belgian musician Aidan. Bird has recorded her material in Ireland, Germany and in her apartment in Brixton, London. Since 2012, she has resided in Berlin, Germany. Career. In April 2006, her debut EP "Branches Untangle" was independently released in Germany by her own label, Bird Records. In October 2006, Bird signed a worldwide recording contract with Island Records Group UK. The "Moodsets EP" was released for download and on vinyl in July 2007, with her debut album "Spoons" following on 18 September  2007 in Germany. Her song "Counting to Sleep" was chosen by iTunes as their 'Single of the Week' and the digital release of her album "Spoons" subsequently reached the Top 10 in the UK Album Download Chart. In the UK, her single, "Blossoms in the Street" was released in October 2007, with the physical release of "Spoons" following 22 October 2007. In February 2008, Bird toured the UK as support act for soul star Gabrielle, and later that year with Billy Bragg. In 2009 (Ireland/UK) and 2010 (Rest of Europe), Bird released her second album "New Boots", which entered  the Irish album charts on No. 11, played over 80 headlining shows through Europe and supported over 20 shows in Europe of Rodrigo y Gabriella. During the festival summer she played over 15 festivals in Europe, including Montreux Jazz Festival, Oxegen Festival, Frequency Festival, Rock En Seine, Lowlands and Pukkelpop. In January 2011, Bird toured with Anaïs Mitchell's performance of her album "Hadestown", providing opening support whilst also taking part in the main production of the show. In November 2011, Bird released a special limited edition sole acoustic album (limited to 1000 copies) called "The Mistakes are Intentional". Bird  recorded the solo versions in her home in London during the summer of 2011. The CD is packaged in a wallet which has been hand-stitched by Bird herself. Bird performed at the Eurosonic Festival in 2012 when Ireland was the Spotlight Country. Bird released her third studio album in March 2012 in Ireland, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The album was recorded in Berlin, Germany. The first single, "Encore", was released on 2 March. The music video debuted on 1 February, and had been shot in Berlin. "Architect" is the fourth studio album, released in April 2014. The first single  from the album was "Hardly Hardly", released across Europe on 28 March and 4 April 2014 respectively. A live album featuring recordings from her European tours from her debut album to her 2014 release "Architect", "Yeah!" was released in 2015. "Home" is her fifth studio album, released worldwide in September 2016. "Woman" is Birds's sixth studio album. Discography. Bird has been compared to singer-songwriters such as Ani DiFranco, Fiona Apple , or the young Janis Joplin. In her songs she combines elements of traditional folk music, blues, and funk with a rock sound. Her style ranges from soft folk  to power ballads. In popular culture. In October 2008, Bird recorded a cover of Depeche Mode's 1981 hit "Just Can't Get Enough" for "The Sun" newspaper's advertisement campaign. Following repeated requests from viewers, the song was digitally released in Europe as a double A-side single, together with Bird's own song "The Sunshine Song". In March 2010, Bird appeared on GOTV to present her favorite music videos and musical influences. Her song "To My Bones" from the album New Boots featured on an advert for Wexford tourism in 2011.