oook contributor Shelly Vida on Matt Andersen who will be at the Rotary Centre for the Arts Oct 8th, 2011

Matt Andersen, the acclaimed singer-songwriter and guitarist, is having the busiest year of his career. So far it’s included a six-day blues cruise around the Caribbean, two shows at Britain’s massive Glastonbury Festival, and 14 major Canadian folk, jazz or blues festivals. He played nearly 100 other shows from the Maritimes to Vancouver Island, and two tours supporting the CBC’s Stuart McLean’s Vinyl Café concerts.

Matt began to build his name on the Canadian circuit, his imposing voice and slashing slide guitar making a monolithic impression on audiences. Performing more than 200 shows a year, Matt won the Maple Blues Awards for Entertainer of the Year and Acoustic Act of the Year and was nominated for four East Coast Music Association awards. In 2010 he became the first Canadian to win Memphis’s famed International Blues Challenge, which led to festival dates in France, Italy, and the US, where he toured with Old Crow Medicine Show.

He debuted with 2002’s One Size Never Fits, and followed with the equally warmly-received Solo at Session (2004) and Live at Liberty House (2005).

After playing the prestigious 2004 East Coast Music Awards, Matt continued to build his audience, appearing with Randy Bachman, Bo Diddley, Little Feat, America, Loverboy, April Wine, and others. He signed with Busted Flat Records for a string of exalted albums: 2007’s Second Time Around, 2008’s Something in Between, and 2009’s Piggyback (a duo set with harmonica king Mike Stevens) and Live at the Phoenix Theatre. By 2009 Matt had completed his fourth tour of the UK, where The Times called him “Canada’s greatest guitarist.”

Andersen’s career is expected to move upward with the release of his latest CD, Coal Mining Blues, which was produced by Colin Linden (who co-wrote and plays on several tunes) and recorded at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, New York. Featuring The Band’s keyboardist Garth Hudson and Olabelle singer Amy Helm, it’s a rich vein of new songs, much of the material addressing the difficult lives of working people.