Cesar Duenas

Tia Jaynes
Music 1040
April 28, 2015
Andy Grammer
Have you ever gone heard a song that instantly moved you and
inspired you through great melody and lyrics? For me Andy Grammer did
that the first time I heard him sing, Keep Your Head Up. The first time I
ever heard Andy Grammer was actually at a college concert performance he
had at BYU. I didnt know who he was, but my friends invited me when they
found cheap tickets. I had no idea what to expect, but I was shocked at how
much I loved his music. Normally being a hip/hop and R and B fan I didnt
think I would have been such a big fan of pop/jazz artist such as Andy
Grammer. He is an incredible live performer as he spent many years
performing in the streets. He has many talents and uses them all in his
performances to reach the audience in different ways. He is known for his
infectious feel good music and dedication for his work.
Andy was born in Los Angeles on December 3, 1983, but raised in New
York City. Later in his adolescence he moved back to Los Angeles to pursue
his musical career. He has many talents being vocals, piano, guitar, beat
boxing, and few other instruments that he breaks out in concerts such as the
trumpet. If you look up his genre you will find him characterized under
anything between pop, jazz, rock, and songwriter because he is pretty new to
the professional business. His music varies a bit in style making it difficult to
characterize him as only one genre style, but the sure thing is that no matter

what he sings about whether its positive or negative he always finds a way
to inspire.
Andy taught himself to play the guitar with his fathers guitar by
listening to his major influences who were Lauryn Hill, Jack Johnson, John
Mayor, Common and Coldplay. Of those artists we talked about a few in our
class and that is how he reminds me of many American artists. His
influences are American songwriters or bands which lead him to creating his
very own unique American style.
At the age of 6 Andy was first exposed to a live audience as he sang a
few songs with his father Red Grammer. His father was the main reason
Andy became so passionate about music at such a young age as he let him
travel with him for many of his concerts. Andy learned about the musical
career from his father and also learned that it was not an easy route, but
could be very satisfactory if they right work was put in. The three main
things he learned from his dad are work ethic, respect for the audience and
to be kind to everyone. All three of these aspects are very easy to find in his
live performances and he involved the crowd so well and makes sure the
show is about his fans and not just himself.
The reason for Andys incredible performance skills isnt only that he
had an incredible artist as his dad to learn from, but also because he got a
lot of personal experience in the streets of Santa Monica California (10
things, pg 1). When Andy got to California he didnt really know what was

necessary to become known so he began by simply performing in the

streets. It is said that to become and expert at something you must dedicate
more than 10,000 hours of work into the task. Andy did that even before he
was discovered by S-Curve Records so when he did become a professional
artist he was more than ready and jumped right in with his platinum debut
reaching a top five hit singles with Keep Your Head Up.
Andy has a unique optimistic style that attracts a young crowd. He
says that his main goal in writing lyrics is to track down all truths. What is
cool is the way he involves the audience and creates an atmosphere that few
artists can create. He may not be as big as other artists around today, but
he is hands down the best live performer I have ever heard because he is so
good at improvising on stage and making each performance unique and
memorable for his audience. His music is known for being, infectious,
catchy, Real, and Funny also giving people that Feel good experience
that some music gives you (Andy, pg 1).
His successes from his debut album took him places he had dreamed
of, but never truly expected to reach. He literally took that same play
anywhere he could perspective into his professional career and slowly began
to get more fans. Initially he would play for bands, colleges and even parties
because his main purpose was to expose his name. He is very humble and
doesnt think its a necessity to start by playing huge crowds and that is what
led him to success and he made many of his shows small and personal to
any crowd he could get in his early years. He has been the opening act and

played sang with big artists such as Taylor Swift, Colbie Caillat, Train and
been on the Jimmy Kimmel show multiple times. His dedication, drive, and
talent are slowly getting him more known and heard throughout the U.S. If
he keeps up his optimistic personality and keeps up his hard work he will
soon become a well-known American musician.

Works Cited
Andy Grammer | Bio." Andy Grammer | Bio. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.
10 Things to Know About Andy Grammer | MyEveryzine." 10 Things to Know About
Andy Grammer | MyEveryzine. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.