Matt Andersen is a Canadian blues guitarist and singer-songwriter from Perth-Andover, New Brunswick. He is a Juno Award nominee. His musical career started in 2002 with the New Brunswick band Flat Top.
Andersen played in over 200 live performances in 2009, including his fourth UK tour. He won two 2009 East Coast Music Association (ECMA) Awards: Male Solo Artist of the year, Blues Recording of the year for "Something In Between" [1] and recorded a new studio album (Piggyback) with harmonica player Mike Stevens.[2] He performed at several of Stuart McLean's Vinyl Cafe shows across Canada, starting in 2009 and continuing into 2011.[3]
On 25 January 2010, Andersen won the top prize for a duo/individual in the Memphis, Tennessee, International Blues Challenge, beating artists from 11 other countries and five continents – the first Canadian to win in the event's 26-year history.[4] Sponsored by the Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival in Fredericton, his prize included festival gigs in America, France and Italy, a slot on the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruises, and a cash award.[4] More honors came in January 2011, as he was named the Maple Blues Awards Entertainer of the Year and Acoustic Act of the Year.[5]
He was nominated for four 2011 East Coast Music Association (ECMA) Awards: Male Solo Recording, Blues Recording, Fan's Choice Entertainer of the Year, and DVD of the Year.[6][7] He won the 2011 ECMA awards for Blues Recording of the Year for Piggyback, and the Konica Minolta Male Solo Recording of the Year for the same album.[8] In 2012, Andersen won three Maple Blues Awards, followed by a 2013 European Blues Award for Best Solo/Acoustic performer. Since the release of Weightless in 2014, Andersen has received a Juno Award nomination for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year,[9] a CIMA Road Gold award, and a Maple Blues Award for Male Vocalist of the Year.[10]
In 2020, Andersen's 2016 "Let's Get Back" hit was covered by Rainman[11] on the UK Government's COVID-19 "Test and Trace" TV Advert[12] to emphasise how COVID-19 testing enables life to "get back to where we used to be".
In 2024, Matt Andersen won The Entertainer of the year, Male Vocalist of the year, Recording/Producer of the year and Songwriter of the year awards at the 27th Maple Blues Awards.[13]
Push Record: The Banff Sessions (with Mike Stevens) (2011)
"Snow Plow"
"She Loves It All"
"Pawnshop"
"The Mountain"
"Last Letter Home"
"Canadian Winter Blues"
"Stay In The Race"
"Little Things"
"Share The Load"
"That Girl is Like a Train"
"Push Record"
Weightless (2014)
"I Lost My Way" 4:16
"My Last Day" 5:28
"So Easy" 4:34
"Weightless" 4:32
"Alberta Gold" 3:33
"Let's Go To Bed" 2:59
"The Fight" 3:36
"Drift Away" 3:43
"Let You Down" 2:54
"City of Dreams" 3:09
"Between the Lines" 4:36
"What Will You Leave" 4:07
Honest Man (2016)
"Break Away"
"The Gift"
"Honest Man"
"I'm Giving In"
"Quiet Company"
"Let's Get Back"
"All the Way"
"Last Surrender"
"Who Are You Listening To?"
"One Good Song"
Live at Olympic Hall (2018)
"Weightless"
"Alberta Gold"
"I Don't Wanna Give In"
"What Will You Leave"
"Coal Mining Blues"
"Ophelia"
"My Last Day"
"Going Down"
"Devils Bride"
Halfway Home By Morning (2019)
"What Would Your Mama Say" 4:40
"Free Man" 3:06
"Something to Lose (feat. Amy Helm)" 4:48
"The Bed I Made" 3:38
"Give Me Some Light" 4:32
"Better Than You Want" 4:49
"Gasoline" 2:35
"Over me" 4:31
"Help Yours Elf" 3:54
"Long Rider" 3:58
"Take Me Back" 4:14
"Been My Last" 3:45
"Quarter on the Ground (A Song for Uncle Joe)" 3:36
House to House (2022)
"Other Side of Goodbye"
"Lookin' Back at You"
"Let Me Hold You"
"Time for the Wicked to Rest"
"House to House"
"See This Through"
"All We Need"
"Peace of Mind"
"Burning Lights"
"Raise Up Your Glass"
"Coal Mining Blues"
"People Get Ready"
Matt Andersen & The Big Bottle Of Joy (2023)
"Let It Slide"
"So Low, Solo"
"Golden"
"How Far Will You Go"
"Aurora"
"Miss Missing You"
"What’s On My Mind"
"Keep Holding On"
"Rollin’ Down The Road"
"Only An Island"
"Hands Of Time"
"Shoes"
References
^"Toronto Blues Society Maple Blues"(PDF). Torontobluessociety.com. March 2010. Retrieved 26 October 2015. Matt Andersen, triumphant from his win at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, returns to Ontario for a busy tour including a new date added at the Glenn Gould, March 8th