Born in Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada, Andy has moved his youth around the prairies, acquiring a unique respect for western life and an impressive collection of hometowns. Song writing and performing became deeply ingrained, from his final year of high school into the nomadic final teen years, when Andy began to hone the skill and commitment of an artist. The results of these years are assembled on Darker Days. Andy handles all of the instrumentation himself, the incredible vocal arrangements and song writing.
Introductions can be passive, rushed, and less than sincere. Then there is the record “Darker Days”, the formal introduction to Andy Shauf, with a distinctly opposite experience. Barely past 20 years of age, Andy serves up a collection of new-folk pop songs that begin and end with sincerity and meaning, patiently unwinding a theme of memories and moving on. It is a remarkably mature display of craft by a young man writing beyond his years. Citing recent influences such as Hayden and Wilco, Darker Days combines a handful of distinct flavors, creating an incredible collision of songs that are all at once Sufjan and Sam Beam, and a kid doing nothing to mask an old soul.
Darker Days ironically unveils an indie veteran, by many standards. Andy began playing in bands at age 14, recording by 16, and had three independent EPs before the age of 20, playing those songs across Western Canada in local halls, coffee shops, and basement parties. This new release, his first full-length recorded in a studio, marks the beginning of his relationship with emerging indie label Shameless Records Canada; perhaps also marking the shedding of youth, of small-town restraints, and the national introduction of a significant new song writer. |
