INTERVIEW - Andrew Waines (RBC Bluesfest 2018 Series)
ANDREW WAINES - 6:00 PM - CLARIDGE HOMES STAGE
Age is not something that has held Andrew Waines back. He's already toured across Canada and played in front of large crowds, at some major festivals and he's only 19! We caught up with Andrew and talked about how he got is start, and his plans for the rest of 2018. Check out the interview below!
Q: How long have you been performing? How long have you been performing with your band?
A: I have been performing music since I was a little kid, but started performing professionally at the age of 16 as a session guitar player. Before I had even begun my journey as a singer/songwriter, I was a guitar player first and it was my entire life. I toured across Canada as a guitar player with a local country artist named Jordan McIntosh and found my way into huge outside concerts like Boots and Hearts, Dauphin Countryfest, Cavendish Beach Festival, and Bluesfest actually! It was such an amazing experience for my growth as a musician and to be able to network with other great musicians who had been doing music as a career for years now; it really gave me the push to just go all in for music.
I have been performing with my band since last November when I played the Grey Cup Festival here in Ottawa, so we have started to glue together and build up some chemistry since then.
Q: Describe the sound of your music.
A: My sound is very much Pop/Rock music, very comparable to the likes of Ed Sheeran, Shawn Mendes, and John Mayer. As I mentioned, I am a guitar player before everything so my music is always guitar driven in some way because that's usually how much I begin my writing process for a song.
Q: Have you released any new material recently? If not, do you have anything on the way?
A: I recently released my second single "Practice What You Preach" to radio this past April where it got spun on local stations in the Ontario area. I have a brand new single that will be released later this month called "Prove My Love" that has a very edgy pop sound which I think people will really like.
Q: It's going be a hot and sweaty festival, once again! How do you plan on keeping cool while on stage?
A: Haha! I have been asking myself that same question! Light shirt, water and 10 fans on stage haha... well at least the first two.
Q: Musically, what are your plans for the rest of the summer?
A: My plans are to release the new single and then continue collaborating on writing and producing in Toronto and New York to help develop myself as an artist and keep improving my craft.
Q: What local artists are you listening to right now that other people should check out?
A: A band called Amos The Transparent. My former guitar teacher plays in that band and they always do such a fantastic job. They played this past Sunday at Bluesfest and were amazing -- definitely recommend seeing them in the future!
