Andrea Smith - Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist
Andrea started out as a simple country girl with rugged rural roots grown around a place called Chase B.C. But the years of shoeing horses and working outside began to register its toll on arms and shoulders and threatened to interfere with her guitar playing. So she quit the cowgirl way of life and took off away from there- became a wanderer, an adventurer, and a songwriter. And now she's an Island girl, rattling a fistful of life's stories wrapped up in her latest cd "Sweet Embrace".
This April Andrea took home Female Songwriter of the Year at the Island Music Awards. The talented team of Pat Coleman and Rick Salt took home Producer and Engineer of the Year for Andrea's album "Sweet Embrace". In 2005 Andrea won first place at the Shuswap Lake International Writers Festival Songwriting Competition. She is gaining international interest and recognition not only for her songwriting but for the skillful rendering of her material in performance. Her future looks bright indeed.
Andrea has been playing instruments and singing since she was a child. She has performed in rock and country bands and sang backup for various B.C. and Yukon artists. She now takes the lead in delivering her finely crafted songs as well as the songs of some of her favorite artists. With influences from Clapton to Coltrane, Ella to Bonnie Raitt, she infuses her music with humor and soul and melodies that stick to your bones. A seasoned performer, Andrea is comfortable on stages both big and small, playing to a packed house or an intimate coffee bar, with a voice that soars from a passionate roar to a sensuous purr; she will take you on a musical journey that is sure to please. She has opened for, and/or shared the stage with Trooper, Dave Gogo, Blue Rodeo, Shari Ulrich, Gary Fjellgaard, Smiling Jack Smith, Pat Coleman, Miles Black, Ken Hamm, Robbie King, Mae Moore, and others.
Andrea is a constant learner and most recently a student of Jazz at Malaspina University in Nanaimo. She shares the skills and information she has acquired, as a teacher of piano, guitar and voice.
Her music is described as cross-over. She writes some country, some jazz, some rock and some folk, but all of it flavored strongly with the blues.
Andrea is signed to RootCellarRecords, an indie label based Vancouver. Through RCR she has national distribution and recently secured distribution in Germany, Japan, and the United States.
