5 Ways to Help Your Favorite Artist(s) in 2024 (and four of them cost $0!) 

These are definitely some of the most challenging times many of us artists have faced. I have always been able to “read the tea leaves” sufficiently to plan my own individual course over the coming 1 to 3 years. Along that journey I've been fortunate to have attracted a small but enthusiastic cadre of supporters who've made my life in music be my livelihood for nearly 30 years. 

A sober assessment of the current climate for independent music must consider the impacts of the pandemic on smaller sized…

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Guitar Mini-Documentary "Sound of Home" to be Released April 3rd 

 It's been nine years since we finished the filming and had the premiere event for our mini-documentary “Sound of Home. The film follows luthier Martin Fair at Fairbuilt Guitar Company through designing and building a custom guitar for Andrew from local native wood. The production team was in the process of making final edits a few weeks later when an inadvertant software update disassembled the film timeline, and the work was shelved. The members of the team got involved in other projects, and so it sat…

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Follow our #MusicalMondays on Social Media 

Since we got a lot of great footage from Andrew's November 1st concert at Franklin Park Arts Center (Purcellville VA), we have been trickling out single song videos on our YouTube and Facebook most Mondays with hashtag #MusicalMondays. Here's some direct links to get you caught up;

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"Rock Time in Your Town" Planned for Spring Release 

The second of Andrew's pandemic projects is nearly done; the mini-rockumentary “Rock Time in Your Town” about the final show of his original hard rock quartet Nor'easter back in 1987. The film editing was essentially finished for a couple of preview events last spring, but the rapid advances in AI technology to help improve the quality of the concert footage (shot on one of the earliest 4-head VHS cameras) convinced Andrew and Producer Dustin Delage to try some additional improvements before releasing the…

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A Rare Live Performance Video 

Andrew returned to his hometown theater, the Franklin Park Arts Center in Purcellville VA, for a solo concert November 1st, 2023 with a very special guest in tow. His now 16-year old fiddling daughter Madeleine joined him for several songs, including a very rare performance of “Long Ago and Far Away” from Treasures in My Chest. In Andrew's words:

"Today is All Soul's Day, a day when we remember our ancestors and our beloved dead. Many cultures around the northern hemisphere have some version of a holiday

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Virginia Performing Grant Renewed for 2024-25 

We are thrilled to receive notice that for the 15th consecutive year, the Virginia Commission for the Arts has awarded Andrew a Touring Assistance Grant and a place in their prestigious touring artist directory. Eligible presenters (municipalities, schools, churches, non-profit organizations, etc) in the Commonwealth can get reimbursed for up to 50% of Andrew's fees for concerts, workshops and other programs. In just these past few years this grant money has gotten Andrew to nearly every corner of Virginia…

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More from the Musical McKnights 

From Andrew's Facebook post, August 5, 2023

"I HAVE to out my little sister's pandemic project because it's just too good not to share! Of course we come from the same musical family, although our particular backgrounds and pathways are quite different. I've been around a lot of traditional Appalachian and Celtic music for most of my adult life; to the point where it's hard to imagine that it's not pervasive everywhere else. My daughter Madi's deep dive into Celtic and oldtime fiddling these last couple…

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Relive "Global Play Music on the Porch Day" 

Andrew and his fiddling daughter Madi, plus several bandmates and friends, gathered on the front porch on Saturday August 26th to participate in the global grassroots phenomena known as “Play Music on the Porch Day.” Since they livestreamed it to Facebook, you can hear them play a variety of original and traditional songs for roughly an hour.

 

Andrew's Caveat - This is NOT a professional video setup, just an iPhone livestreaming through our wifi and from a distance from the porch too. But, you can get a feel

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NEW VIDEO: "My Little Town" 

A visual love letter to this little place where I hang my heart. While I often share songs, stories and images collected over nearly a million miles of touring, this time I'd like to show you around home through the eyes of people who live here and love it.

With thanks to my neighbors and friends Sarah Huntington, Stirling Rasmussen, Christi Porter, Mouncey Ferguson, Douglas Graham and Carol Dukes for the use of their photos and videos - and a few from my personal stash too. Lincoln is a mostly quiet little…

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Second Co-Write with Veteran to Be on Compilation CD 

July 27, 2023

We are thrilled to learn that another song Andrew co-wrote with a veteran at the Music Therapy of the Rockies retreats has been selected for a compilation CD. MToR founder and Executive Director Mack Bailey is hard at work pulling together Stories and Songs from the Farm, Volume 2 to help publicize the amazing healing work the veterans are doing and to continue raising private donations that are helping to bring more retreats to more places, including training more music therapists to help run…

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NEW: "Aretas Culver" Concert Video 

Just in time for Memorial Day, here's the first video released from the Treasures in My Chest release celebration, March 6, 2020 at Franklin Park Arts Center in Purcellville VA. "Aretas Culver" is the story of Andrew's doomed 3x great grandfather from Bristol CT who suffered disaster at Antietam, siege at Plymouth NC and the horrors of the notorious Confederate prisoner of war camp at Andersonville GA that ultimately cost him his life. Sadly the pandemic shut down the world the following week, so we never…

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Back to Helping Veterans Heal Through Songwriting 

May 9, 2023

I'm also thrilled to resume my work with the wonderful Music Therapy of the Rockies songwriting with veterans retreats for the first time in nearly four years. Many of you have heard the songs and the stories, and know that I consider it sacred work to help our vets find musical tools to help reframe their trauma. Six pairs of songwriters and veterans brought amazing newborn songs into the world last weekend in North Carolina in front of an affirming audience of family and friends.

I'm looking…

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Filling Some Potholes in the Road 

2023 arrives with some road trips where we have 1 show booked, and we'd love to be able to add 1 or 2 more. Small house concerts or church fellowship hall shows are infinitely better than doing nothing - for you and for Andrew - and we've got tools and resources to help make that easy to do! Here are the quandaries:

  • Sat./Sun. FEB. 4 or 5 - Reading PA; could hit Philly, Harrisburg or most anything reasonably in between!
  • Fri./Sat. MAR. 10-11 - southwest VA, east TN or western NC; may we dance? Have a…
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Hear Andrew's Podcast Interviews about Nor'easter 

The year that Andrew's hard rocking youth roared back to life has been full of surprises and treasures. As the Nor'easter Calm Before the Storm album has found its way to radio and podcast hosts around the world this autumn, Andrew together with singer Chris Gursky have been doing Zoom interviews about the band, the music, the history and more - most of which will be completely new to longtime fans of Andrew as singer/songwriter.

The interviews are a fun and engaging look back at their shared musical and…

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Let the Holiday Shopping Begin - Music, Experiences and More 

First the music and the merch - save 25% on anything and everything through our Bandcamp store with the code XMAS22, through midnight EST on Monday December 12th. Order now, and get music and more on the way in plenty of time for gift-giving. 

Guitar and songwriting lessons/coaching, anywhere in North America! In person here in northwestern Virginia or via Zoom, buy 4 lessons and get one free for new students only; no strings attached, no contract required, gift certificate available to put in an envelope…

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Bandmate Les Thompson Honored in Nashville 

Andrew's long time friend and Beyond Borders bandmate Les Thompson was part of a very special celebration of his role in music history this past weekend, as the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville hosted the founding members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and friends for two nights commemorating the 50th anniversary of their legendary Will The Circle Be Unbroken album. In the spirit of the original sessions, the celebration concerts included some of Nashville’s finest including Shawn Camp, Carlene…

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New Album Featuring Young Songwriters Honoring Heroes 

Since 2018, Andrew has led several songwriting workshops for high school and middle school students interested in songwriting as part of the annual Chords of Courage songwriting contest in Frederick County MD. The project honors both famous and every day heroes who made huge sacrifice to make the world better for others in someway. Andrew's friends Heather Aubrey Lloyd, Rob Hinkal and Kristen Jones of the award-winning band ilyAIMY took seven of the 2022 contest winning entries and did a magnificent job…

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A Month of Reunions Continues - Nor'easter at Cabin Studios 

Thirty five years ago; the final time Andrew's original hard rock band Nor'easter stepped on stage together. The three surviving members chatted briefly at drummer Matt Bouley's funeral in 2002, but other than that sad occasion, singer Chris Gursky, bassist Paul St. Amour and Andrew had not been together since. 

So on the heels of Andrew and Beyond Borders reunion show five days previous, the reunion at Cabin Studios near Leesburg VA the weekend before Thanksgiving was mighty special indeed. The three have…

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Beyond Borders Reunited On Stage - and In Studio! 

After a fun and successful reunion set at the 2022 Mountville Folk Festival, Andrew and Beyond Borders bandmates Les Thompson, Lisa Taylor and Stephanie Thompson did their first full concert together in over three years in Winchester VA, Sunday November 13th. Everyone was healthy and sounding peak, Les has been playing banjo pain-free for the first time in a long time, and as they have been reheared for the show, they also laid down some basic tracks for "Hey Alligator" and "Til the Well Runs Dry."

That…

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