Album Notes

Andy’s previous CDs have won numerous Storytelling World awards, and two Just Plain Folks awards. After a lot of fan nagging, Andy is tickled to present this record featuring whistling and mouth-music on every track.

The physical package includes a CD plus a DVD with five music videos featuring Andy with one of the Nation’s Premier Chamber Ensembles: The Kandinsky Trio, featuring violinist, Benedict Goodfriend; cellist, Alan Weinstein and pianist, Elizabeth Bachelder. Andy and the Kandinsky Trio cover Duke Ellington, Thelonlous Monk, and Thomas Dolby, among others.

Guest musicians include: harpist, Kelly Brzozowski; violinist and guitarist, Joe Ebel; pianist, Mack McKibben; bassist, Don Porterfield; and singer, Kim Weitkamp. Also joining Andy is multi-instrumentalist and producer, Chris Rosser whose good taste and magic touch appear throughout. The album includes multi-tracked a capella extravaganzas as diverse as Low Rider and Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring, along with original songs and adventurous arrangements.

Reviews:

"Say what you will about Covington-based Andy Offutt Irwin’s aptly
titled latest album, but there’s nobody else like him. Irwin is best
known as a storyteller on the national festival circuit, crafting
larger-than-life characters with a heavy dose of wacky Southern charm.
But he’s also an accomplished singer-songwriter with several albums
under his belt. On his latest CD/DVD set he focuses on his world class
whistling skills, proving a pair of well-pursed lips can deserve a
place in concert halls. From a peppy jazz version of “Over The
Rainbow” and an Indian raga twist on “Old Joe Clark” to a killer take
on the Romanian folk tune “Doina & Hora” (with the Kandinsky Trio),
Irwin tackles genres like a veteran defensive lineman tackles
quarterbacks. Sure, whistling “Low Rider” and “She Blinded Me With
Science” sounds a bit silly (and silly, after all, is his storytelling
stock-in-trade). But when he gets serious? The man’s a master musician
with some VERY talented lips."
–BRET LOVE,
Georgia Music Magazine, a Publication of the Georgia Music Hall of Fame

“A fiendishly clever union of Tom Lehrer’s topicality…cut with Bobby McFerrin-style mouth music.
–The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Acute Folk Sensibility" – The Wall Street Journal