Today, Andrew Bird and Iron & Wine in partnership with Lucky Brand launched a new project titled Play for the Parks. The series celebrates the beauty and wonder of the outdoors through stilling performances from the two musicians. Collaborating with one another for the very first time, the two come together sonically like separate streams destined to flow into the same river.
The show was produced by La Blogothèque and filmed in the expansive landscape of Yosemite National Park. Andrew Bird is joined by Iron & Wine, both with their pants rolled up above his shins, to play Bird’s 2019 track “Manifest.” They slowly walk towards Tenaya Lake as they play together barefoot and eventually dip their feet.
Of the experience, Bird said in a press release, “As a performer, reacting to my environment has been a constant driver. From my Echolocations series to Gezelligheid concerts to Play for the Parks, the idea is simple: be flexible and wait for your environment to tell you what it wants to hear. With Sam Beam and Yosemite as collaborators, this was an ideal environment.”
The producers of the film made sure to make the quiet of the outdoor space a character in the video by highlighting the rippling whispers of the lake and songs of passing birds between tracks. After a short break, the viewer finds Bird sitting on a rock like a natural throne. From his seat, he delivers his latest offering “Fix Positions.”
The producers also captured Iron & Wine performing acoustic renditions of his track “Call It Dreaming” with Bird on violin and his beloved 2002 track “Upward Over the Mountain,” while he is surrounded by mountains. The two recorded the renditions of the two songs at Yosemite’s Cathedral Beach.
Read Relix‘s piece on Iron & Wine here.
Read Relix‘s interview with Andrew Bird here.
Watch the performances below:
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