Matt Anderson

Matt Andersen is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist from Perth-Andover, a rural community in New Brunswick. He grows up in a musical family: his grandfather plays fiddle, his mother plays piano in church, and many of his cousins play in bands. He starts on tuba and then trumpet in junior high school before taking up guitar at 14. He also studies studio engineering and plays classic rock and Top 40 covers in pub bands before turning more fully to blues.

Recording career

Andersen makes his debut with One Size Never Fits in 2002, followed by Solo at Session in 2004 and Live at Liberty House in 2005. He builds a reputation on the Canadian live circuit for his powerful voice and slide guitar playing. He later signs with Busted Flat Records, which releases Second Time Around in 2007, Something in Between in 2008, and Piggyback in 2009, a duo recording with harmonica player Mike Stevens, alongside Live at the Phoenix Theatre.

Touring and recognition

Andersen performs more than 200 shows a year and appears at the 2004 East Coast Music Awards. He becomes a frequent guest on Stuart McLean’s CBC radio programme The Vinyl Café and completes his fourth UK tour by 2009. During this period, The Times describes him as “Canada’s greatest guitarist.” He also appears with Randy Bachman, Bo Diddley, Little Feat, America, Loverboy and April Wine.

International Blues Challenge and later work

In 2010, Andersen becomes the first Canadian to win the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. This leads to festival appearances in France, Italy and the United States, and to touring with Old Crow Medicine Show. His album Coal Mining Blues is produced by Colin Linden, who also co-writes and plays on several tracks, and recorded at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, New York. The album includes contributions from Garth Hudson and Amy Helm, and its songs focus in part on working life, with tracks such as “Work Hard for the Luxury,” “Lay it on the Line,” “Fired Up” and the title song.

Awards

Andersen wins Entertainer of the Year and Acoustic Act of the Year at the Maple Blues Awards in 2011, and receives four East Coast Music Association nominations the same year.