It's a Beautiful Day came to national prominence in the seventies with "White Bird." Founded in 1968, the band was led by David LaFlamme, who started playing violin at age five and who later played as soloist with the Utah Symphony. La Flamme performed several styles of music during the sixties, and by the time he formed It's a Beautiful Day on a summer afternoon (hence the group name), LaFlamme was playing jazz, classical, folk and rock. Playing on a specially adapted and amplified solid-body five-string violin (the fifth string was a low C, and the instrument's range was as wide as that of a violin and viola combined), his solo-ing established the group as a top local draw at early rock concerts. Their debut album stayed on the charts for more than a year and went gold.