Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
A: I was born in Memphis but grew up back and forth between Texas and Oklahoma. I think growing up gay in the South, particularly my time spent in a small town setting, served to galvanize my thinking about the ideas of truth and authenticity. When you find yourself constantly swimming against the tide and having to fight to maintain even very basic and fundamental notions of self and truth, you can’t help but be changed by it. I think it gave me a perspective that and easier path would not have.
Q: How are you planning on growing your fan base and sharing your music with the world? What message do you have for anyone who is about to discover “Keith Andrews”?
A: Until something better comes along, I’ll continue to try to make the current streaming landscape work. It’s becoming less and less friendly to independent artists, but it’s the world we have at the moment. I guess my message to someone about to discover me would be something like, “Glad you’re here. Please stick around. Things are about to get interesting”.
Q: Who is the most inspiring artist for you right now? And where do you find inspiration for making music?
A: I guess right now I’d have to say The Lumineers, Old Crow Medicine Show and Vampire Weekend. That’s a bit of an odd mix, but they each have a bit of a traditional vibe with a twist. Thinking outside the box is more interesting when your still somewhere in the vicinity of the box. I take inspiration wherever I can find it.
Q: Can you tell us about the story or message behind the song, “Satellite.”?
A: “Satellite” is basically about getting away from everything and gaining perspective. It started with an image like most of my stuff does. When I wrote it, I had just seen the film “Gravity”. The combination of the imagery from the earth’s atmosphere and the silence really struck me. I got a vision in my head of kicking back on a satellite, playing a ukulele and taking everything in. The song just formed around that.
Q: How would you describe your sound in one word for potential listeners?
A: The word “odd” would probably work. If there’s a common thread in my stuff, I think it’s a combination of thoughtfulness and goofiness. Which would also be a pretty apt description for me as a person.
Q: Did you face any challenges while writing or recording “Satellite”?
A: For a long time, the song existed without the final verse about going back down for a “quick terrestrial look around”. Something about the song always struck me as a little two dimensional. I found adding that verse gave a depth that made the rest of it fill in. An example of this I use is the great Hank Williams song “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”. Take out the one line “As I wonder where you are” and the whole thing would suffer. That one line gives the listener the context that makes the whole thing work.
Q: What is the message of your music? And what are your goals as an an artist?
A: I guess it would be something like “Think outside the box, but don’t throw the box away”. My goals would be as simple as trying to continue to add to my tool box, expand my playground and see what happens.
Q: Who is your dream artist to collaborate with? (dead or alive)
A: Dead, would be too long a list, but it would start with John Prine. I would say John Lennon and/or George Harrison, but if I were to somehow to have that opportunity, I’d be reduced to such a fanboy that I’d be useless. They’d probably have to have me escorted out of the room to get anything done. Living, it would be either Old Crow Medicine show or Sturgill Simpson.
Q: What is your advice for people interested in pursuing music as a career or for those trying to enter the industry?
A: Focus on process goals first, outcome goals second.
Q: If you could go back in time and give a younger you some words of wisdom, what would they be?
A: Find the right guitar, become familiar with the circle of fifths and learn to paint like a child.
