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Andrew Anderson Hitting The Road

01/27/2010
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There is a new sound on the popular Austin music scene and oddly enough it comes from the smooth, driving rhythm of a mandolin. Andrew Anderson is the 23-year-old Idaho native who is getting the music scene, of new hometown Austin, talking. Anderson's new self-released album, As Long As This Thing's Flyin', captures the rebellious, independent American spirit of a country crooner, wrestling with nature, with God, and with his own quest for the elusive prizes of love and righteousness in a troubled world. To support his new album, Anderson will be hitting the road starting on Saturday, March 6 in Boise, IA and continuing through the west coast and south before closing out the tour on Friday, March 31 in Seattle, WA.

As a songwriter, Anderson can cite his nomadic life on the road from Idaho to Seattle to Boston and back again as the spark that lit his creative fire. While studying at Boston's Berklee College of Music his professors helped Anderson to realize, and pursue his true talent of touring, writing and performing music during his study in Mandolin performance. His songs paint the crooning cowboy lifestyle -- lonesome highways that stretch into nowhere, that neighbor with the gun, or that dame he just couldn't win. Through Anderson's eyes all life's lessons are learned from mistakes, consequently the ghosts of which still haunt him. In the track "Fists up, Chin Down" he sings, "I left her. I'm not saying I regret it, but I've paid dearly for it. Now what am I to do?" In "Necessary Casualties", Anderson tells of loss and poverty, the effects of war on his own family, and a country torn over self-serving motives. His lyrics rebuke the country's leaders, "I don't see your sons heading off to war. All I see are the sons of the laid off, the jobless, the poor". With such vulnerability and truth no one could mistake Anderson's cowboy attitude swagger as an act.

Anderson's musical influences range from the melancholy of Townes Van Zandt to the artful blend of folk and rock from Chris Thile as well as David Bazan's raw composition and the soulful vocals of Adam Duritz. One thing is certain, Anderson's mandolin playing commands attention. Anderson admits he would like to be the next Hank Williams, but obviously without the tragic ending. Sure enough, he sings just like him, incapable from hiding his demons even from his dear old mother. In "The Hawk" he laments, "Momma, I just don't want you to worry. Momma, I just don't want you to cry. So, Momma, it's just best if you don't see me when I die."

Andrew Anderson's music ranges from full band, pulsing blues-rock, to the lightest country croon. Every song is made with wooden instruments and sounds as though it could have been recorded 50 years ago. That's his real charm, the genuine feeling that he might have traveled from a simpler time when life really was just broken hearts and an old dusty trail. This being Anderson's first tour in support of As Long As This Thing's Flyin', fans can expect an easy translation live, straight forward and to the heart. Shows will vary from intimate acoustic settings to those with a full band.

Current Tour Itinerary for ANDREW ANDERSON:

w/ Mike Herrera's Tumbledown
Sat, 3/6 Boise, ID Neurolux

w/ Mike Herrera's Tumbledown and Two Cow Garage
Sun, 3/7 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
Mon, 3/8 Fort Collins, CO Road 34
Tue, 3/9 Denver, CO Larimer Lounge
Wed, 3/10 Colorado Springs, CO Triple Nickel Tavern
Fri, 3/12 Oklahoma City, OK The Conservatory
Sat, 3/13 Kansas City, MO The Riot Room
Sun, 3/14 Fayetteville, AR George's Majestic Lounge
Mon, 3/15 Shreveport, LA TBA

w/ Mike Herrera's Tumbledown and Lucero
Wed, 3/17 Hot Springs, AR Valley of the Vapor Festival*

w/ Mike Herrera's Tumbledown and Two Cow Garage
Thu, 3/18 Dallas, TX The Doublewide*

w/ Mike Herrera's Tumbledown
Tue, 3/23 San Antonio, TX TBA*
Wed, 3/24 Tempe, AZ Yucca Tap Room
Thu, 3/25 Fullerton, CA Slidebar
Fri, 3/26 San Diego, CA Radio Room

w/ Mike Herrera's Tumbledown and HA HA Tonka
Sat, 3/27 San Francisco, CA Thee Parkside
Sun, 3/28 Redding, CA Bombay's
Mon, 3/29 Medford, OR Johnny B's
Tue, 3/30 Portland, OR Dante's
Wed, 3/31 Seattle, WA Tractor Tavern

*full band performances



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