The Birdwatchers Ukulele Trio Combines Silky Harmonies with Positive Vibes

BY NICOLAS GRIZZLE  | FROM THE SUMMER 2024 ISSUE OF UKULELE

With singing as pleasant as a thrush nightingale and demeanor as fun and friendly as a black-capped chickadee, it’s no surprise the Birdwatchers are gaining popularity in the uke world. While they do share an affinity for avian admiration, it was actually a mutual love of thin pancakes that initially brought the trio of Kim Bjerga, Clark Holmes, and Andy Nufer together in 2014.

“We would hold these crepe parties every week,” says Nufer, motioning to Bjerga next to him on a video call from their rehearsal space. “We’d just invite people over for crepes. And Kim and Clark realized they could harmonize really well together. So I grabbed an instrument, and we ended up playing silly little gigs.”

Their first gig was a month later at a fancy farm-to-fork dinner in their hometown of Cedar City, Utah. “They said, ‘Hey, we heard you guys play music.’ And we’re like, ‘I guess we do.’” says Nufer. Six months later, they ended up moving to the big city—Provo, that is—and decided to make a serious go at it as a band. 

Fast forward to 2022, when they really started getting into the uke festival world. In that year, they played festivals in Michigan, Tampa Bay, Tahiti, and Austria. “I love that uke fests are a thing,” says Bjerga. “They’re always interesting and full of characters that are just fun people. They’re always memorable.” This year, their gigs include a show at a national park, a ukulele cruise, and lot of weddings.

Meet the Birdwatchers

The first thing that stands out about the trio is undoubtedly their vocal harmonization. Not only are they all musically adept at hitting the notes, the timbres of their voices blend together in a way that is quite pleasing to the ear. 

Holmes sings most of the lead vocal parts and primarily plays rhythm uke, sticking to a high-G tenor most of the time. Bjerga also sings lead at times and handles a lot of the texture in their arrangements on baritone and low-G tenor ukes, like fingerpicking and effects like wah-wah pedal, as well as some of the bass duties. Nufer plays acoustic guitar, bass, and tenor and baritone ukes at various times as their resident Wizard of the Strings.

“Anytime we need someone to shred, it’s usually Andy,” says Bjerga. “He’s really good with his hands. He’s very technical and creative in the use of his skills.”

While their vocal harmonies are delightful, it’s hard to imagine them having the same effect without ukulele behind them. The soft, chime-y overtones of the uke blend with their voices in a way that’s different than the fullness of an acoustic guitar. They’ve clearly figured out a recipe that works with their ingredients, and now they get to have fun with the presentation.

“Charming is a word I like to use for our band,” says Holmes. “I feel like we want to make charming music. It’s quality, but it’s also fun and funny and bouncy.”

Says Bjerga, almost finishing his bandmate’s sentence, “And relatable, and doesn’t take itself too seriously.”

Adds Nufer, “It’s kind of a mix because some of the songs are quirky or silly. They’ll make you laugh a little bit. Some of them are more soulful or emotional. So it kind of takes you a few different places.”

Take their song “I Wanna Be Your Butterfree,” for example, from their 2019 debut album The Naked Waiters. The lyrics describe an evolution of a love story, from flirting to life partners, using the metaphor of a butterfly and a caterpillar, albeit with slightly silly names. The music ebbs and flows with tension and release, ultimately ending on a happy note. It’s absolutely beautiful. And it’s inspired from an episode of a children’s show.

“That song is all based off of an episode of Pokémon,” says Bjerga.

Fans of the franchise would likely have known that from the title alone, which contains the name of a Pokémon. For others, it might feel like an emotional bait-and-switch—if the band weren’t so up front about its origin.

“Almost every time we play it, we explain that, because we’re trying to let people in on the fact that we’re nerdy, and we like Pokémon, and we like to make songs about anything,” says Holmes. “We think that there are basically no rules. Here’s a song that, if you didn’t know anything about it, you’d have no idea it’s about Pokémon. But I think that’s part of the charm of that song, when we perform it live, because we get to make people laugh when we tell them the story. And then at the very end, people are a little more soft and emotional.”

Adds Bjerga, “It really just sounds like a love song. And that was kind of the point, I think. We’ve had people tell us, ‘Forget that it’s about Pokémon, this is a great song,’ and that’s really validating.”

So they’re not looking to write heart-wrenching ballads, but maybe heart-poking ones. Because they understand that good music should make you feel something, but ultimately their goal is that their audience has a good time.

“I want us as a band to shine with our instruments and our vibe as opposed to trying to lyrically tell you something,” says Holmes, “Like you could just hear it in the background and think, ‘Oh, that’s a cool vibe.’” Indeed, their music is fun, smooth, and interesting; many songs would be right at home on a pool party playlist.

Their recent songs have a more modern pop sound, with synth pads underneath and some cool studio tricks spicing up the ukulele-guitar-bass instrument arrangements. “Drop That Pin,” has a funky, Mark Ronson feel to it; “Friend” features lo-fi drum loops and layers of acoustic and electric ukes. But still, they respect the ukulele in a way that’s more than just a “texture” on a single track. Listening to these songs, it’s evident that this is a band that knows and utilizes the instrument as a central tenet.

Yes, They’ve Got Talent

In 2019 the band auditioned for the television show America’s Got Talent and performed before the judges. Spoiler alert—they didn’t make the cut. But they did get a “Yes” from each of the four judges, despite, perhaps, some prejudice against the ukulele.

“Okay, here’s a little context,” says Bjerga, settling into a story he’s obviously had to describe many times before. “We have auditioned for America’s Got Talent like six or seven times. I think it was our fifth or sixth time when we actually got flown to California for the recording. We’d done the Salt Lake City audition and we’d done the Vegas audition (in prior years). It was weird. You’re sitting around and waiting for most of the day, and they interview you a couple times and ask what you’re going to wear beforehand. So we have to plan outfits and have them approved.”

Nufer picks up the story from there. “We did a tech rehearsal first with an empty theater and just some tech people, and they give you some advice like, ‘Look out and smile instead of looking down or closing your eyes,’ and then they do a sound check. And then later they introduce you while they’re filming and they train the audience beforehand, they give them signals on how to react at certain times.

“Then they’re taping and [host] Terry Crews greets you and brings you out, and the judges ask you questions about yourself. It could have been five to ten minutes of questions, but they only use a few seconds if they use any at all. And then they tell you to perform.”

Their friend Mark McGahan, who was the singer in the metal band Bjerga and Nufer were in before the Birdwatchers, was there to sing with them. “We sang a song with all our instruments and then they said, ‘That was nice, could we hear something without any instruments? Just a cappella?’ So we pulled out another song that we hadn’t prepared a cappella and they loved it—standing ovation. And then we got the critique they gave us: All four yesses, and they really love vocals.”

The judges, however, were not as fond of the ukuleles. Says Bjerga, “Simon (Cowell) said, (donning a British accent) ‘I don’t like the little guitars.’ I’m like, dude, you know it’s a ukulele.” Cowell, who has been on the show since 2016, was perhaps playing up his tough-love image for television. But another judge apparently wasn’t a fan of it, either.

Says Nufer, “And then Sofia Vergara, she was quoted saying she just dislikes ukuleles in general.”

Adds Holmes, “Their critique was, ‘You should be an a cappella group.’”

It would seem that, despite Grace VanderWaal winning the competition in 2016 at age 12 with her ukulele-and-voice performance, the current crop of judges don’t have a lot of love for the little four-string.

“It felt like a huge bummer to get a standing ovation twice from this big crowd of people, and then to get four yesses, and a couple months later to get a call that said we’re only going to be on the show for six seconds,” says Bjerga. “All that was shown of us was us saying: ‘Uh-huh. Yup,’ onstage after they’d asked us a question, and they never showed any of us playing.”

Adds Holmes, “There was a clip of Sophia saying ‘What’s your dream?’ And I said, ‘To do this full time.’ And that’s like the only clip they used.”

Nufer finds a silver lining in it all, however. “But if we had continued on—that was right when the pandemic hit—we would have had to do the next rounds virtually, which probably would have sucked.”

Ukulele Maturation

Ukulele was not the first instrument of any of the band members, but they all grew to love it fairly quickly. Nufer played piano as a kid, then learned guitar and bass to jam with friends in high school, which he says made for an easy transition to ukulele. Bjerga played French horn for nine years in school and sang in church choirs. Holmes found the uke more to his liking a few years after starting with guitar. 

“I was 21 when I picked up a uke for the first time,” says Bjerga. “I lived in France for a couple of years. I was a missionary, and I was having issues sleeping, and it was a way for me to relax. It was just a very convenient small package I could take with me and didn’t take up a lot of space in my tiny apartment.”

He adds, “Ukulele was one of the first things that made sense because I already played a little bit of guitar, so it translated easily. It’s a vibrant little thing and it’s got a lot of personality. And, for lack of a better term, it’s chill.”

Holmes played trombone in school before trying his hand at guitar. “Ukulele feels like the first instrument I actually did because I love,” he says. “Guitar was just because I kind of wanted to be cool when I was 13, and ukulele, I was 17 when I picked it up. I always say I started playing ukulele because I couldn’t play the guitar.”

The band has changed its approach a bit since its debut album five years ago, both as musicians and as songwriters. “I feel like we’re trying to make more mature music that’s pretty simple and appeals to everyone, but also has more of a metaphorical message,” says Holmes.

“A little more meaning,” adds Bjerga.

“I feel like the Naked Waiters days were like, this song is about this episode of Pokémon—a specific reference. This is about my cat; this is about a specific balcony,” says Holmes. “I want to write a song that a stranger could hear and relate to as opposed to a goofy song about this very specific thing that only my friends and I know about.”

Still, they don’t want to lose their authentic selves in the pursuit of mass appeal. “At the same time, we really like the goofy, fun things about life,” says Bjerga. “So I don’t think we’re going to lose that much by trying to be more mature songwriters because naturally, we’re kind of childish and carefree anyway.”

Somehow, it doesn’t feel like this trio of songbirds could ever lose that playful nature.

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A Little Help From Their Friends

Not surprisingly, the Birdwatchers have been embraced by the ukulele community since jumping into the festival world a few years ago. Multi-instrumentalist, jam-leader, and educator Ukulenny was one of the first performers they connected with, at Mighty Uke Day in Lansing, Michigan, in 2022. “We met him there and we just hit it off like crazy and talked to him all night,” says Holmes. 

“The first thing I noticed about the Birdwatchers was their tight harmonies,” says Ukulenny. “The vocal arrangements are stunning throughout their sets and really allow their voices to shine. And then they started switching instruments and using foot drums and tambourines to really bring their level up to ridiculously awesome. As a fellow multi-instrumentalist I appreciate their versatility when it comes to everyone playing everything—and doing it well.”

The band members asked him what it was like having a full-time career in the uke world. “He said that being sponsored (by Kala) was key and he was like, ‘You guys could probably do something similar.’” He made the introduction, and earlier this year the Birdwatchers officially became Kala artists.

Their first endorsement deal was with the carbon fiber instrument maker Klos, and the band still appreciates those unique instruments as well as their new ukes from Kala.

So far, both companies have been supportive, and the band is excited to have a wider variety of instruments to choose from. (When we spoke, they were particularly excited about Kala’s new solid-body U-Bass.)

“I think that we love the ukulele so much that we want to work with everyone that we can,” says Bjerga. “We want to spread the love a little bit and just make friends with everyone. The ukulele community feels really cohesive and supportive of each other. It doesn’t feel as cutthroat as other avenues in the music world; it just feels very friendly and supportive. And we love that.” —NG