In 2005, Andrew Bird was a previously unimaginable combination of virtuoso violinist, singer-songwriter, guitarist, and whistler. With that year's album The Mysterious Production of Eggs, his second on Righteous Babe Records, Bird minted a new sound that continues to be imitated and set down classic songs that still anchor many a live performance. The recording sessions lived up to the name when he recorded and scrapped the album three times, traveling between studios in Chicago, Los Angeles and his own home studio on a farm in Northern Illinois. The mystery was solved with the aid of David Boucher, whose studio credits at the time included Paul Westerberg, Lisa Loeb, and Randy Newman. Bird played most of the instruments on Mysterious Production of Eggs, joined by a handful of special guests complimenting his already lush sonic palette. The result was a powerhouse of a record dealing with nothing less than the mysteries of childhood, creativity and modern science-epic in scope and minute in detail.