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At 6’ 2’’, Matt Andersen is a blues man in an extra large shirt. Hunched over his treasured Lakewood guitar, long curly hair partly obscuring his face, the first thing that strikes you is the unexpected dexterity of his meaty digits as they tear effortlessly through intricate patterns of notes. “I kinda had to make up my own ways of playin’ chords,” says the 29-year-old Halifax Nova Scotia based musician. “My fingers kinda mashed up together, so I’d cover two or three strings instead of just one.” Then his voice, sweet vulnerability one moment, a grizzled, guttural roar of inner pain the next, stops you dead in your tracks. Throw in a self-deprecating wit (One size never fits.) and its little wonder that audiences everywhere are yielding to the weight of his talents and charm.
Born in Perth-Andover, New Brunswick, Andersen grew up in a musical family taking a shine to the blues in his teens. He worked at the McCains’ frozen food factory in Florenceville, making pizza pockets until 2002 when he hung up his hair net and picked up a microphone in the Maritimes band, Flat Top.
Once Andersen discovered that his sprawling amalgam of blues and roots worked best as a solo acoustic act, he gradually built up a fan base expanding into regional festivals. In the past few years, he has released two studio albums, a live album and Piggyback, a collection of duets with Canadian harmonica virtuoso, Mike Stevens.
2010 was a watershed year for Andersen. In January, he became the only Canadian to ever win the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee. “Pretty daunting to go up against 80 other acts from all over the world,” he comments on the surreal experience. “I was blown away to walk away with first place in the solo/duo category.”
The win’s instant notoriety was like shooting Andersen’s career out of a cannon. Appearances at the Vancouver Olympic Games were followed by extensive touring in North America, his first trip to mainland Europe (France, Holland, Italy and the Czech Republic) and his fourth circuit of the UK. He capped off the year with the release of a Christmas album, Spirit of Christmas and several dates with Stuart McLean’s Vinyl Café Christmas tour.
2011 promises to be even more fruitful for Andersen who began the year on a high garnering Entertainer of the Year and Acoustic Artist of the Year honours at Canada’s Maple Blues Awards before boarding the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise for a week of partying with blues fans in the Caribbean. He’ll release an exciting new CD this spring recorded in Levon Helm’s studio in Woodstock, New York with Colin Linden producing and Garth Hudson of The Band as guest keyboardist. Andersen is booked for two shows at the Glastonbury Festival in Somerset, England and should have no trouble equalling the 200 plus gigs that he racked up in 2010.
Big man! Big presence! Big impact! One of Canada’s hardest working musicians, Matt Andersen is on the cusp of becoming an international blues celebrity. www.stubbyfingers.ca
Ken Wright
