Andrew Light: News

We've just received these two fan videos taken at a Big Mechanical Bull hoedown show we played in November. Click here for Dr. Nick and here for Country Sausage. Enjoy!

Went to see the group Pinback in NY with some friends. Been into their records for a while and expected a chilled-out night of enjoying the subtle beauty of their music with other like-minded fans. Wrong! They played and sounded great. Unfortunately they have recently attracted a small but considerable number of fans that hail from the demographic I refer to as "meats" - large, muscle-bound, crew-cutted, sweaty individuals with vacant stares who chug can after can of Bud and grow rowdier and more obnoxious as the night (and their buzz) progresses. I was certain they thought they were going to see Nickelback that night, and were now too drunk to notice otherwise.
All the subtlety of Pinback's music was literally drowned out by a pocket of meats to my left who, through sheer drunken volume, screamed and yelled LOUDLY at the most inappropriate times, namely every time the band got real quiet in a moment of sublime melodic interplay, much to the chagrin of every remaining mellow and yes, unfortunately passive Pinback fan in attendance. One of the many questions this troubling display raised in my mind was how these meats got their hands on a Pinback album in the first place, because some of them seemed to know all the words, although with a heavy (and LOUD) Meatish accent. The theory floating around headquarters is that a somewhat hip college girl brought a Pinback album to a frat party, having heard the band on a college radio station. After just enough cheap beer, the meats found themselves noticing the presence of Pinback's emotionally riveting music, and observed the effect that it had on the group of drunken cheerleaders with names like Tammi and Cindi who were present and suddenly in the mood for love. Finally the meats decided that they, too, would embrace this new hip college radio band/aphrodisiac (the same thing happened to Nirvana when, like Pinback, they were not new at all, and already had a considerable following, but were "adopted" by meats who thought they had discovered this new hip thing). Remember, Pinback normally attracts a mellow, hip, artistic type of college-age (and older) crowd; their music is filled with moments of poetry and beautiful emotional subtlety. The looks on the faces of most everyone else I saw throughout the night seemed to say, "This is all wrong! The crowd is 90% mellow and cool! But this small but significant amount of meats will ruin the concert for us all! This is not a college football game! No one should consider shaving 'Pinback' in their chest hair! These guys are screaming, literally, louder than the band is playing, and are acting about as appropriately, given the deep, melancholy emotion and subtlety of Pinback's music, as someone starting 'the wave' at a funeral! But what can we do? We are passive, mellow Pinback fans who have never crushed beer cans on our heads! Oh, dear!!"
So, sadly, the show was a wash for many innocent people. Here's to a night of deep disappointment for many New York Pinback fans.

Andrew has a new rock project that is unlike anything he has ever done, and it is consuming all of his time. To say he is very excited about it would be an understatement. Stay tuned, stay tuned, stay tuned...

2006 is here, and with it the promise of another year of whatever it is you make of it. Best wishes in living the life you most want to live, and enjoying the people, places, and things you find yourself spending the year with.
Blessings,
Andrew

I don't know about you, but this week I'm playing a hoedown, a rock concert, and a jazz brunch. If variety is the spice of life, then I have paprika all over my beard. Just the way I likes it.
The Big Mechanical Bull show at the Stone Pony was a blast. Thanks to all who came, and comedy-related thanks to the semi-motivated absentee soundguy who had the volume level of one of Pete's tom drums far, far louder than the rest of his entire drumkit for the first two songs.

My jazz record Standards is nearing completion after a month-and-a-half long setback due to an amplifier explosion and subsequent repair. Can't stop the jazz!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Hello friends...Drew here. Well, the jazz gig at Tavern On The Green in NYC went well...about 250 people came and the night raised a ton of money for pancreatic cancer research. If I were in the military I'd yell something like "Booyah!"

My jazz record with singer Allie Moss is due out in early 2006. Entitled Standards, it's a swinging, romantic disc - the perfect solution for those of you whose love lives are in slow-mo...or even a no-go. Check back soon for ordering info.

Those of you who remember my other jazz projects like Lunar City - in which we played rather strange and "out" arrangements of tunes ranging from lesser-known Thelonious Monk bop tunes to Christmas carols to spooky 100-year-old Erik Satie impressionist piano pieces - may wonder why I've decided to make a traditional jazz record of swing-era standards. Because, dammit, people could write songs back then. And because I felt like it! I have a deep respect for traditional jazz and the great American songwriters like Cole Porter and George Gershwin, and I love to play their tunes as they may have been played in the 1930's and 1940's. Call me sentimental, if you wish.

The Big Mechanical Bull rides again! After a summer off, we're back with some new shows (at the Stone Pony, the Paramount Theatre, and more), new shirts (come to a show and buy many! they're hot!) and maybe even some new tunes. We are getting back into the studio to finish our record, Country Songs - For The Modern Woman, and look forward to seeing you all soon!

We know Andrew loves to throw down a hoedown with the Big Mechanical Bull, and go night surfing in dark Arabian seas with Secret Agent Abe. But when it's time to class this joint up, to turn a room a smoky blue, for Andrew, nothing does it like jazz.
After years of working in jazz big bands, quintets, and trios, Andrew has lately been focusing on exploring the intimacy of duo and solo settings. His duo with singer Allie Moss will soon release their full-length album Standards, recorded by Andrew at LightLab. To hear a sneak preview of Andrew's solo on Duke Ellington's classic "In A Sentimental Mood", check out the Music page.
In other jazz news, Andrew and Allie are pleased to be performing at the famous Tavern On The Green Restaurant in NYC on Sept. 26th. While this gig boasts the steepest cover charge of Andrew's career ($500 a plate) it is an event that both Andrew and Allie are proud to be a part of: raising money to fund the NY laboratory of Dr. Robert Fine, the doctor who recently saved one of Andrew's friend's lives from pancreatic cancer. Click here to find out about Dr. Fine's miraculous and world-leading pancreatic cancer treatment, and for more info on the special event.

Been in the studio lately, beginning a long summer of recording. On the plate: the Big Mechanical Bull record, the Jazz Duo record, and my solo stuff (which no one but my closest friends has heard) - it looks to be a long and hopefully prosperous summer of one-man recording. Stay tuned for updates and sound clips. And drop me a line so I don't forget what lives outside the studio walls. Happy Summer+++

Last night's Bull show was our last for a little while - we're now on a concert hiatus to finish the new record. Thanks to all for coming and being such a vibrant and great crowd to play for.
It was also nice to see Tim Keiper play last night, truly a sick drummer.

Last night the Bull brought the New Jersey hoedown down south - south, south Jersey that is...Wildwood got their first taste of the Big Mechanical Bull and, boy howdy, were they surprised to learn of the musical hijinx (and lojinx) that've been a brewin' up in the northern part of their very own state.
Thanks to all the new Bull fans who tried to sing along to "Laarksvard's Hot Cream" and especially the guy who showed up with a giant cardboard cowboy, fake saloon doors, and many large, inflatable cactii. Yes, I'm serious. Bull fans may be strange, but they 'got it where it counts.'

Bull! The Big Mechanical Bull had at great show at the Brighton tonight, and we were happy to see so many of you there. The sound was great, no explosions, except for intentional ones (see previous post). Andrew bought his 41-year-old amp a beer for another job well done.

Thanks to those who came to see the Big Mechanical Bull recently at the Orb in Red Bank. We were not without some Big Mechanical technical difficulties, which of course, DID NOT prevent the crowd from square-moshing.
Andrew's rig was on the verge of thermonuclear meltdown the entire show. Adam's was, in contrast, merely on the brink of nuclear destruction. Pete was fine.

I'm currently finishing up the Allie Moss & Andrew Light Jazz Duo cd entitled "Standards" - 9 jazz standards including Skylark, So In Love, and My Funny Valentine. We're both very excited about this record and look forward to it's release in the next couple of months.
My role as guitarist/producer/engineer on that project led to a recent request from Allie to do the same for one of her original songs - "Way With Words" - for inclusion in an upcoming national artists compilation cd. This arrangement of her great tune is a little bit on the somber and spooky side, a slight departure for Allie but one in which she reveals the stark, quieter textures of her voice that some people may not yet have heard. Look for "Way With Words" soon on iTunes and various other places on the web. Good luck, Allie...
I recently produced the new album from the well-known Irish balladeer Joe Finn. It is selling out quickly in local Irish stores and at Joe's concerts. Read the great review it received in The Irish Voice in the Press section.
The Big Mechanical Bull is at work on our long-overdue full-length album, COUNTRY MUSIC for the Modern Woman, due out by summer. Recording duties are being handled by Pete at Jerk Records Studios and by myself at LightLab. Stay Tuned.