Andrew Bird sits in a barn “out in the middle of nowhere” wearing flannel Winnie the Pooh pajamas. This barn, located on an old family farm near the western border of Illinois, is his home and recording studio. His voice is as relaxed as his attire; his music as serene as the landscape he lives in.

Known in the past for his work with the Squirrel Nut Zippers and the Bowl of Fire, the folk singer will showcase his solo show, for the first time in Ames, in a way that would normally involve an entire musical troupe. Try to imagine one man singing while playing guitar, violin and glockenspiel (or “glockenwhistle,” as Bird calls it, because he whistles the notes as he’s playing).

Bird says he is able to incorporate so many sounds into complex songs through the aid of a loop station. This allows him to play an instrument for a few seconds, set it down, pick up another and layer them all as needed.

“It hangs by a thread sometimes, but it seems to be effective,” Bird says. “Even if I hired an orchestra to play with me, I couldn’t get what I end up getting.”

Although he’s toured in the past with a five-piece band, Bird says he has been on an anti-social binge for the last two years and is pleased with the results despite the high potential for error.

“Part of the show is watching me fail,” he says. “I’m kind of stumbling around on stage and dropping things, so there’s an element of danger.”

Not only does Bird stretch the limits of a one-man pop act, he says he completely abuses his most distinct instrument. Plucking the violin like a guitar through two Fender amps and thwacking it like a percussion instrument are just a few of the unorthodox musical methods Bird has perfected.

Led Zeppelin and Sigur R¢s come to mind as other bands who have crossbred stringed instruments. Bird might be described as a cross between these two groups. While the Icelandic post-rock gods are known for epic soundscapes, Zeppelin focused mostly on short, punchy songs.

“A lot of it sounds like it’s coming from a different universe,” Bird says. “But I’m not inclined to just go off and create endless landscapes. It’s all three- or four-minute pop songs, basically.”

Bird says that while many people base their entire careers on making songs that sound like other songs they like, he is drawn to recording music that surprises him.

“It’s just not interesting to me to replicate something that I’ve heard on a record,” he says. “I’m always looking for the chance occurrences.”

This approach to writing music carries over into his lyrics as well. Bird opts for vagueness and unlikely, abstract phrases over precise narratives because he says the thoughts that pop into his subconscious somehow make more sense than anything literal possibly could.

“Even to be slightly embarrassed of what you’ve just written is a good reaction,” Bird says.

This strange sentiment seems representative of Bird’s laid-back mentality. At the same time, he’s keeping his standards high.

“I have to take it lightly,” Bird says. “When I start taking it seriously, it gets bad.”

Who: Andrew Bird, Dan Darrah

Where: M-Shop

When: 9 p.m., Saturday

Cost: $7 students, $9 public