January 29, 2026

Photo: Head Luthier Jake testing out the latest Birdsong.

I was talking with a client the other day, he was ordering a second Birdsong and asked a familiar question. “I’m a Grateful Dead fan, and I was wondering about the name of the company…” Well, I’m going to tell you how Birdsong got its name. But first… it’s not the Dead song. By the way, did you know that song was written about Janis Joplin?

Birdsong the company went legit in 2004; as a name, a brand, it dates back to 2000. The first Birdsong instrument was a guitar named “Rainmaker” with its own story, completed in 2001. At this time in my life, I was just getting on my feet out deep in the rural Texas “Hill Country” woods; that guitar was made with the help of my friend “Uncle Johnny” in my corner of his workshop… a shop with its own story as well. But in there I showed Johnny how to make his wood art into guitars, and he showed ME how to make my guitars into wood art.

I was young and threw myself into a deep south summer and a defining life’s path out on some acreage with little prep, as an incomplete guy, but it was time. And I was going to settle that raw piece of land or die trying. I had no idea what I was made of or who I really was, but it was time to find out. There were lots of challenges in enduring and working it hard and living rough, clearing a spot and trying to put up a shack… again, another story. I was ill-prepared and ill-equipped. But when it’s time, it’s time for a big move, and you either do it and see where it takes you… or you don’t. And it doesn’t. From where you are, you start or you sit; it’s as simple as that.

In the middle of all of this, sleeping up under the stars on my van, I understood that so long as the birds were singing in the morning, everything was going to be alright. And they did. And it was. And that’s where Birdsong comes from. As well as the feather tattoo on my right arm. It was a new day, it was a new DAWN for me. And my soundtrack to going “back to the land” was birdsong.

That was 25 years ago, my adventure looks a little different now, but I have that same spirit that found its flight - and Birdsong looks a little different all these years on as well, but it does too. And that’s the story of how Birdsong got its name.

Check out the MODELS page, and the FAQ/ORDERING info, and get on board for a 2026 Birdsong. I still answer the phone, I still guide it all, and I still write up your orders and promise you absolute happiness with your bass and mean every word. If we can be a part of the music you make, we’d be honored to build one (or two!) for you, from our hands to yours!

Thanks and blessings,

~ Scott B.