Birddog

Under the Birddog moniker, Buffalo-based singer/songwriter Bill Santen crafted an evocative and at times surreal brand of Americana marked by vivid imagery and a pronounced poetic sensibility. The project surfaced during the second half of the 1990s and produced four distinctive albums, among them the haunting A Sweet and Bitter Fancy in 2001. In 2004 Santen discontinued the Birddog name and put out his debut solo album.

Born in Lexington, Kentucky, Santen spent several years traveling the length of the West Coast before establishing himself in Portland, Oregon. There he formed a friendship with indie figure Elliott Smith, who consented to produce Birddog’s first single. Issued in 1996 on the small Undercover label and featuring Smith playing bass and drums, the release was titled Killer. Santen next joined Chicago indie Sugar Free Records, which issued two albums in rapid order. The seven-track 1997 follow-up The Trackhouse, The Valley, The Liquor Store Drive-Thru, again produced by Smith, presented listeners with Santen’s grounded folk settings. Just a year later, in 1998, Ghost of the Season arrived with a richer ensemble sound and drumming by future Wilco member Glenn Kotche. Several years afterward Birddog resurfaced on the French imprint Alice in Wonder for the darkly shaded 2001 album A Sweet and Bitter Fancy, once more featuring both Smith and Kotche. The project’s last record, Songs from Willipa Bay, came out in 2002 on Georgia indie Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records. By 2004 Santen had dropped the group identity and issued his initial solo effort, the more personal In the Night Kitchen.