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I sat down with Andrew over a couple beers at the Trowbridge to talk about his music and his history.  It was his environment.  Everyone that walked by us had a big smile and an extended hand, “Hey Andrew, how are you doing?”  These people knew Andrew.  He had sung and played for them many-a-night. 

“There is an element of me that wants to be the kind of musician that strives to be a well-rounded individual.  And to me, that means more than concentrating on music.  It means being a father, a husband, a student - a career-minded musician…even musicians need to have multiple interests.”

Andrew is the consummate Cape Cod musician.  He plays music all over the Cape, both as a solo acoustic entertainer and also as part, usually the lead guitar and lead vocal part, of a couple different Cape bands.  He makes his home in Cataumet with his family.  He works for a small business a mile from his house.  And he is proud to be here, happy to make the four seasons of the Cape part of his life.

Of course, as a native Cape Codder, it would be sacrilegious for me not to mention that Andrew is a wash-a-shore.  But that’s okay, Andrew, we don’t hold it against you.  It only means that you had a life before Cape Cod…   

Andrew came from a musical family.  His grandmother and uncle were graduates of the New England Conservatory.  However musical his family was, though, Andrew didn’t have his eyes set on the stages of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.  “I fell in love with blues and jazz in high school.”  He had a guitar, a lyrical fret board left hand, which, incidentally, was largely fostered by his own studies and a hidden gem – his voice, which lies strongly as the foundation of Andrew’s musical prowess.

After attaining a degree from the University of Hartford, Andrew was insistent on using his guitar and his voice to take him on some adventures:  a backpacking trek around Europe busking on different European street corners, a tour around the continental United States with different bands.  He spent time in Oregon; Key West, Florida; Colorado; Lake Tahoe, California – always chasing the dream.  You know the dream…record labels, CD’s, fans, the lifestyle, the whole shebang.

Eventually the lifestyle wore him down.  He had paid his dues.  The labors of band management and perpetual travel became too cumbersome.  So he decided to go back to Cape Cod, a place where he had spent summers as a kid working in different restaurants and also a place where he had musical connections.

He settled just across the Bourne Bridge, got a job at a local restaurant and got busy playing music, meeting people, and building the life he lives now.  At the Chart Room Restaurant in Cataumet, he became recognized as the singing waiter, a title he still holds and remains proud of today, belting out jazz standards with a background pianist.  At the Chart Room, he would meet his wife and the mother of his two sons, Quinn and Jack.

Now you can find Andrew singing and playing all over Cape Cod.  “Part of what I believe in, is that my job is to entertain, ya know, to sing and entertain…because it makes me feel good and it makes other people feel good…and for me, that’s like…well, I might as well be flying to the moon.”

Forget flying to the moon, Andrew.  We want you here, wash-a-shore or not, we want you here…playing music and being you.
                                                                                                                                        Nick Smith / On the Upper Cape / November, 2005