Andy Brown Hits Home - Grid City Magazine

Fredericton musician preps to release new album.

Andy Brown has been on an incredible ride. Over the past three years he’s grown from a favourite performer at local and regional venues to an award-winning songwriter with on the international stage. With four successful Australian tours now behind him and a pair of iTunes chart-topping albums to his name, there is no denying his place as one of the city’s most successful performing artists to date.

Currently in the midst of a national tour, Brown will soon be gearing up to release his third album tentatively titled, Seasons, a project he recently completed with producer Dan Ledwell (Jenn Grant, Justin Rutledge) at Echo Lake Studios in Nova Scotia. The album will be released this summer.

“The new album is finished, and I couldn’t be more excited for everyone to hear it,” said Brown. “Working with Dan Ledwell was such a great experience. His creativity as a producer is so unique, and he happens to be one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, so that didn’t hurt either. In the end, he was able to capture exactly what I was looking for and helped truly bring the new songs to life.”

In shaping the music on this new release, Brown invited some of his favourite artists to join him including Hey Rosetta’s Kinley Dowling, East Coast songstress Jenn Grant, PEI’s Tim Chaisson and acclaimed Ontario performer Jeremy Fisher.

Brown credits his time spent touring Australia for getting the wheels turning for this latest project.

“I had the opportunity to write a lot with a great artist named Dylan Wright from Sydney, New South Wales while I was on tour down under,” said Brown. “That’s what got me started thinking about the new album. From there, I pursued songwriters and artists that I admired and that I am fortunate enough to call friends. Together, I think we made something really special.”

“There is nothing better than playing for a hometown crowd, especially when you don’t get to see that home as much these days.”

It comes as no surprise that Brown would credit his Australian experience and the newfound friends down under in helping to shape this upcoming release. After four successful tours including a recent headlining tour as part of the Festival of Small Halls, Brown has become a favourite throughout the country’s many folk communities.

“Australia for me has become my home away from home,” he said. “I started going there in December of 2012, and have never looked back. My first performance was at this incredible festival called The Woodford Folk Festival. From that point, I’ve been fortunate enough to support some of Australia’s legendary artists like Diesel and Ian Moss, and headlined a national tour. The people in Australia are really similar to Canadians, especially in the way that they respect artists. I think that’s why so many Canadians export down under. The reception is incredible. Plus, the weather isn’t too bad either.”

Now on the tail end of his current tour, Brown will play a sold out show to a hometown crowd this Friday at The Capital Complex.

“There is nothing better than playing for a hometown crowd,” he said, “especially when you don’t get to see that home as much these days. I’ve been spending a lot of time on the road so getting to perform in front of the people that were there for you at the very start is so meaningful. Hometown shows are always very special to me, especially because I get to look out in the crowd and see lots of familiar faces, including my Mom and Dad, singing back to me. There is nothing better than that.”