Watch: Andy Shauf – Live Session (highly riyl: Tobias Jesso Jr, Sufjan Stevens, Elliott Smith)
ANDY SHAUF SHARES LIVE SESSION FOR ‘WENDELL WALKER’
9 minutes and 35 seconds is a lot of time to commit to one track, I know. But trust me, as one of three murder ballads on his upcoming album, ‘Wendell Walker’ is an absolute beauty. Avoiding any and all obvious signatures it is an elegant storytelling composition, one that I personally consider to be a modern postscript to the Hendrix classic ‘Hey Joe’. Controlled, patient, heart-rending..
Many have been completely enraptured by his timeless and tender songcraft. Often compared to Tobias Jesso Jr, Sufjan Stevens, M Ward, Elliott Smith and Harry Nilsson, watch this and you’ll see why these hefty comparisons are fully justified.
“Extremely intimate,” said CLASH in their premiere, “the black and white video seems to get to the root of Andy Shauf’s songwriting: literate, emotive and hugely engrossing.”
Live at The Drake Hotel
WATCH HERE
ANDY SHAUF – Wendell Walker from Southern Souls on Vimeo.
‘The Bearer Of Bad News’
Out May 4th (UK/EU) on Tender Loving Empire
Andy Shauf prepares to release his acclaimed new album ‘The Bearer Of Bad News’ in the UK & EU, followed by a handful of special live appearances.
“Those years of singing alone in his bedroom have produced an uncommon voice that doesn’t have to fumble for tricks such as whispering or singing off key in the current fashion. Andy Shauf, please take one step forward from the pack.”
– Consequence Of Sound
“One of the most outstanding talents we’ve heard in quite some time…a timeless mix of melody, voice and lyrics that’s as comfortable as it is impressive”
– The Line Of Best Fit
There’s an innate stillness and depth to Shauf and his music – a quiet, riveting strength that subtly steals its way into a listener’s bones. He’s a storyteller: a singer of heartbreak and regrets, isolation and loneliness, small-town heroes and smaller-town killers.
Throughout The Bearer of Bad News, Shauf studies the universal through two to five-minute microcosms, spinning tales as few others can where accidental, redemptive victories (the jaunty charmer “Hometown Hero”) stir alongside evocative, heartrending tales of self-doubt and lost loves (“I’m Not Falling Asleep,” the achingly beautiful “Covered In Dust,” “You’re Out Wasting”). There’s not one, but three cinematic murder ballads that slowly unfold like the greatest of tragedies: “Wendell Walker,” an epic account of adultery and betrayal, as well as “Jerry Was A Clerk” and “My Dear Helen,” sister songs that skillfully tell two sides of one unintended death. Shauf’s tender, singular tenor guides the way over muted instrumentation of softly-strummed guitars, dampened drums, weathered piano, and clarinet, which lends its unique timbre to frequently brighten – or hauntingly underscore – the songs’ darker undercurrents.
Meticulously written over four years, and recorded throughout one in a makeshift studio set up in his parent’s basement, Shauf plays nearly every instrument on The Bearer of Bad News. The album was crafted on his grandfather’s timeworn guitar and heavily influenced by the aforementioned – and newly learned – clarinet, which was a Christmas gift from family. In spite of his modest recording setup, Shauf imbued The Bearer of Bad News with an enduring warmth and redolence that lingers long after the album ends, a skill which earned him praise across Canada and a growing audience abroad.
London, UK • 13.05.15 • Slaughtered Lamb
Brighton, UK • 15.05.15 • The Great Escape Festival
Gardenstown, UK • 05.09.15 • End Of The Road Festival