With Wooden Birds, musician takes flight again

In 2002, Andrew Kenny, frontman for American Analog Set, made a big move after spending six or so years developing a loyal fan base by churning out warm, mellow music variously referred to with terms like "quiet-core" or "drone pop": He went to New York to pursue a Ph.D. in biochemistry at Columbia University.

"I decided that I had made a lot of music that I was really proud of," he says. "Whatever I'm doing I want to try hard. I was trying hard at both, and I wasn't doing either as well as I could, and I decided to try just science for awhile."

He couldn't stay away completely, and within a year he was making music again. He would end up putting out two more American Analog Set albums — 2003's "Promise of Love" and 2005's "Set Free" — before walking away again.

Four years later he returned with a new band, the Wooden Birds, and released a bare-bones, acoustic album, "Magnolia." Like American Analog Set, the music was subdued, but here Kenny passed on drums and drone in favor of guitar-body percussion and a cleaner sound.

Now the Wooden Birds are back with a second album, "Two Matchsticks," which finds the band building on elements of its debut in a more upbeat mood. Kenny also has added a bit of star power, with a guest appearance by Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie as well as the addition of indie singer-songwriter Matt Pond as a member of the band.

When he talks about his decision to choose graduate school over his band, Kenny credits an unexpected source for renewing his interest in music: Canadian rock collective Broken Social Scene, who initially inspired Kenny when he saw them play in New York. Kenny already knew<strong> BSS frontman Kevin Drew from having shared bills with Drew's earlier band, K.C. Accidental, but didn't know much about the new group. When he saw them play for the first time, Kenny was impressed by the band's sense of camaraderie.

"I was all by myself and seeing them playing together, they had such a good time and the energy was such brotherhood," he says. "I knew that was what I missing. I missed going to band practice."

Kenny and Drew kept in touch, and a few years later Drew called to ask if Kenny would contribute keyboard parts to a solo album he was working on. "I was like, ‘Sure, I'll give it a shot,' but I was mucho intimidated when I showed up," Kenny says. That job turned into a spot on what more or less turned out to be a Broken Social Scene tour, with Kenny on keys. A self-described super fan, Kenny loved the chance to play a part in making some of the band's older songs come to life.

After a few years (and a stint working with another band with an Austin connection, David Wingo's Ola Podrida) in New York, Kenny and his wife, Sheila, relocated to Austin, where he got to work on a new project that would become the Wooden Birds. He recorded the band's first album, "Magnolia," in a converted bedroom studio and inked a deal to release it on Merge sister label Barsuk. He debuted the material in 2009 at the South by Southwest Music Festival.

"It was the first time Barsuk (representatives) ever saw us," he says of the show. "We had already talked about putting the record out, but they had never seen the live band before. They had no idea. I was probably more nervous at that show than I had been since I was playing in my first band in high school."

Kenny says that the tour to support "Magnolia" was bigger and longer than anything he had ever done with his previous band, and while they included a few American Analog Set songs in the set list, his previous work didn't bring in many old fans.

"There was some overlap. There were some people out because they were curious, but I felt like I probably knew most of them personally," he says. "I'm happy with the Wooden Birds. I'm proud of it. I wouldn't want anyone to see it because it was a ‘gramps with amps' kind of situation. I'd rather it be perceived as a new band."

That level of satisfaction led to the return of the Wooden Birds this summer with "Two Matchsticks," which was released in June. It's a solid follow-up, and a return to many of the same themes as the first album. The songs are full of characters whose tendency toward heartbreak and sadness often seem plucked from the pages of John Cheever.