Tony Bird is a folk rock

Folk rock

Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...

 singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 who was born and grew up in Nyasaland

Nyasaland

Nyasaland or the Nyasaland Protectorate, was a British protectorate located in Africa, which was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Since 1964, it has been known as Malawi....

 (now Malawi

Malawi

The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...

) in Southern Africa

Southern Africa

Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...

. He is known for his Dylanesque

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

 vocals and for his songs which describe life in colonial Nyasaland

Nyasaland

Nyasaland or the Nyasaland Protectorate, was a British protectorate located in Africa, which was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Since 1964, it has been known as Malawi....

 from a progressive anti-colonial point of view.
He made his first solo performances at the Space Theatre

Space Theatre (Cape Town)

The Space Theatre was a fringe theatre in Cape Town, South Africa which was active in the 1970's.It re-opened in late 2008.-History:...

 in Cape Town where his unique African style was reviewed favorably by press and promoters.
He recorded two albums in the 70s. His comeback CD Sorry Africa, released in 1990 on Rounder Records

Rounder Records

Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...

 in the USA and Mountain Records

Mountain Records

Mountain Records is a record label started in Cape Town, South Africa in 1980 by Patrick Lee-Thorp.The record label produces mostly South African music and is known as the home of Cape Jazz recordings, having issued a number of albums by such names as Basil Coetzee, Robbie Jansen, Jonathan Butler,...

 in Europe and Africa, included the hit song "Mango Time", which describes the happiness of the mangoes being ripe, once a year.

He toured with Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a male choral group from South Africa that sings in the vocal styles of isicathamiya and mbube. They rose to worldwide prominence as a result of singing with Paul Simon on his album, Graceland and have won multiple awards, including three Grammy Awards...

in the 1980s, who recorded his song "Go Willie Go".
He now lives in the New York US where he continues to perform .