Andrea House is a singer with a penchant for melody. Her voice is reminiscent of the great singers of the 1940\'s and 1950\'s. Her songwriting is dedicated to exploring the genres that were born of that musical era.
Her earliest memories are of church hymns and country music. Records by Tom T. Hall, Don Williams and Dolly Parton made up her parents \"modern\" music collection. Andrea\'s musical education consisted of singing with her Grandma in a small white church in Arrowwood, Alberta, and watching her father pick out anything and everything on the guitar by ear.
Andrea spent her early twenties acting in musicals and theatre productions. She has been nominated for three Elisabeth Sterling Haynes Awards, and won Best Actress in 1990 for her role in the musical, \"Babes in Arms\" at the Citadel Theatre. With the encouragement of her guitar teacher, Terry McDade (The McDades, Harpe Danse), Andrea started to play in and around Edmonton and in a short time was embraced by the local folk community, playing for such groups as the Northern Lights Folk Club, Uptown Folk Club and the Alberta Roots Music Society.
Encouraged by community support and the initial success her EP \"Twilight\", she went to work on her first full-length album in 2003. \"Heart\'s Hotel\"? was released to a sold out crowd at the Winspear Rehearsal Hall in January 2004. Since then, Andrea has toured to Winnipeg, Toronto and Ottawa, where she performed at Alberta Scene in 2005. She has played the South and North Country Fairs, the Edmonton International Street Performers Festival and the Edmonton Folk Festival. Most recently, Andrea and Chris have begun touring internationally with appearances in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, with European dates soon to follow...
Chris Smith - After a brief academic hiatus from the national music scene, guitarist, songwriter, producer Chris Smith, returns to touring and making albums with acts Le Fuzz, Andrea House, John Henry, Terry Morrison and The Almost Leather Band.
From the end of the second wave \'80\'s punk/hardcore scene in Edmonton, to touring nationally and internationally with Jr. Gone Wild, Uische Breathe, The Painting Daisies, Luann Kowalek, and The Piemyn, Chris\' career as a guitarist, engineer and producer, is one of exploration, both musical and geographical with a discography spanning twenty years and including over thirty albums.
Chris also tours as a solo songwriter and with his own band The Almost Leather Band and has made multiple appearances at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival, Mariposa, The Regina Folk Festival, The Ottawa Folk Festival, Canadian Music Week, NXNE, COCA, SXSW, Seattle\'s Bumbershoot Festival, and the Winnipeg Folk Festival.
Instrumentation
Andrea House - Vocals and Guitar, Chris Smith - Vocals and Guitar. We also perform as a five piece with the inclusion of Pedal Steel (Bob Blair), Upright Bass (Thom Golub) and Drums (Paul Paetz)
Discography
2002 - EP - Twilight
2003 - Heart\'s Hotel
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