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ANDY'S BIOGRAPHY:
I am originally from Montague, Michigan, where I began studying music
on the violin at age 7. My interest was sparked after attending an orchestral
concert with the West Shore Symphony. My mother made the long drive to
Fremont every Tuesday to take me to violin lessons with Anna Land. For
ten years, I learned the Suzuki method up to book 5. Later, lessons focused
more on Celtic and Irish fiddle tunes. In high school I was a member of
the West Shore Youth Symphony.
My brother Tony and I shared our first electric guitar together during
middle school. This gave me the opportunity to experiment with sounds
and develop basic technique. I listened to guitarists like Randy Rhoads
and Joe Satriani, mystified by their use of classical counterpoint, complex
chord progressions, and their use of acoustic and finger style guitar.
Forming many bands through high school, I played original compositions
and 80's rock tunes. The band "Scourge" won the Campus Life
Battle of the Bands in Whitehall, Michigan in 1993. I also picked up the
twelve string guitar for gospel and liturgical music on Sundays. I did
not have guitar lessons at this point, so I was a completely self-taught
player, and my compositions were purely written by ear, and followed no
formal rules.
Playing in front of
the Coliseum
Rome, Italy
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I attended Siena Heights University near Detroit, Michigan,
where I earned a BA in Music Technology. I was able to study under
a very modern approach, including music business, electronic music,
experimental jazz, and recording technology. Through the University,
I began an internship working for the Toledo recording studio Scharren
Recording. This later turned into my first full time job as an audio
and video engineer. I spent years under the wing of Dan Schroeder,
grammy winning pro tools engineer. I went on later to work for AudioMatrix,
Strawberry Fields, and OhioMedia, as well as engineering for the Toledo
Symphony. I entered some local talent shows with my electric guitar,
an effects pedal, and a phrase sampler. On Sundays, I played 12 string
guitar in the praise band. Many assignments for the electronic music
courses required composing synth pieces. Somehow I managed to find
time to play second violin the school quartet. It was during this
time that I began the intense study of the classical guitar, playing
a master class with Eliot Fisk. My senior year, I performed with the
Siena Heights Men's Choir and Madrigal Ensemble in Carnegie Hall. |
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After graduation, I accepted an adjunct faculty position of Instructor
of Guitar at Siena Heights University, Adrian College, the Jackson
Symphony Orchestra Community Music School. I continued to teach
at the college level for the next six years.
It was during this time that I formed the Ann Arbor Hard Rock
band "Climb", which opened for national acts such as
Taproot and Funktelligence. Our favorite piece to perform was
"Against the Dirt,"
which featured a digereedoo solo!
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Aspen Music Festival
with Sharon Isbin
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Then I moved on to the graduate schools at the University
of Toledo and the Cleveland Institute of Music, and made my living
as a classical guitar instructor. I managed a few bands, released
a compilation CD of the best local bands the I had recorded in my
pro tools studio, and continued to collaborate with musicians from
my home town in West Michigan. I released two solo CDs of original
instrumental acoustic guitar music - Impressions and Corridors. Impressions
is a meditation CD of acoustic guitar. Corridors is part solo classical
guitar, part celtic guitar, and part acoustic blues complete with
bass and drums. This was a very busy time in my life, because my solo
act was the “house band” at two local establishments.
This show featured solo instrumental acoustic guitar and the Boomerang
phrase sampler (and sometimes hand percussion). I started the record
label "Omega 13 Records", and released a compilation CD
of the bands I had recorded. |
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I took the next summer off to perform and study
in Italy with the Rome Festival Orchestra. While in Rome, I studied
with Stephan Traini, instructor at St. Mary's conservatory of
music. I performed Vivaldi's Concerto in D for Guitar and Chamber
Orchestra, as well as Suite Brazilian by Heitor Villa-Lobos and
Robert DeVisee's Lute Suite in D minor.
Upon returning to the States, I performed Vivaldi's
Concerto in D for Guitar and Orchestra with the Adrian Symphony.
1. Introduction/First
Mvt
3. Second
Movement
4. Narration
The next summer, I relocated to Colorado to attend
the Aspen Music Festival, hosted by Julliard's Sharon Isbin. There
I studied and performed James McGuire's Canzone in E minor, as
well as two original pieces, "March
of the Butterflies" and "Far
Away".
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 Adrian
Symphony
Vivaldi's Concerto in
D Major
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Deep Green
Nation
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After seeing an ad calling for a mandolin and fiddle player for
a roots rock band, I called and scheduled and audition. I showed up
to the audition never having played the mandolin (if fact, I had just
purchased one a few days earlier), but was asked to join the band
after playing only one song. This band, Deep Green Nation, was a roots-rock
band that went on to record with Denver-based Grammy-winning Bendiksen
Productions. We played many concerts throughout Boulder and Denver,
and recorded two demos. The song "Going
Down" was always one of my favorites. |
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| After landing in Longmont, Colorado, I quickly founded a unique
jazz band known as The Boulder Acoustic Society. Besides numbers from
the gods of 1920's jazz, like Django Reinhart and Stephan Grapelli,
we played and performed original music such as "Montra"
and "The Whiskey Tango".
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The Original
Boulder Acoustic Society
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Master class with Benjamin
Verdery
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The next summer, I attended the 2005 Hawaii Guitar
Festival, where I attended three master classes with Yale's Benjamin
Verdery. I performed Bach's Prelude to the fourth Lute Suite in
E Major, as well as a few original pieces.
1. Lament
2. Insufficient Funds
3. Ode to Kaki King
4. Bach Prelude |
During 2006, I developed a relationship with Fluid Rhythm Entertainment,
which has recorded such acts as Delisco, a finalist on the reality
TV show "The Entertainer".
I gained film score experience by working with the Grammy winning
crew at Bendiksen Productions on the soundtrack to the History Channel
Special "The American Forest Service". Beside arranging
and printing parts for the orchestra, I played guitar one one track,
"Ashikan Farewell."
The music was added to the film at Skywalker Sound in L.A.
At the beginning of 2007, I began recording Birth of Jubal, a hardcore
band out of Longmont Colorado. We've mixed in Pro Tools, and experimenting
with the T-Racks mastering plug in, as well as Stephen Massey's
"Tape Head" plug in.
Crimson Reigns, a hardcore band from Greeley Colorado, has finished
their recording with me. You can hear their music at www.myspace.com/crimsonreigns
I've also been recording my own original compositions for solo
classical guitar at Subterranean Studios just outside of Boulder,
with the two-time Grammy winning producer, Tom Wasinger. The CD
was released on March 16, 2008 and is available on CD baby. |
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Rome Festival Orchestra
2002,
Kevin McMahon Conducting
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I currently teach on BeyondGuitar.com |
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