I have interviewed actors, writers, producers and directors here on Not Even Joking. I realized recently that I had yet to interview a musician. This month, I am rectifying this. I had the pleasure of meeting Andi Rae Healy several years ago when my husband introduced me to her music one summer afternoon at Rockwood Music Hall on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. I was hooked immediately. I am thrilled to have Andi join us today for a Creative Minds Profile.
Andi Rae Healy is an Indie-Country singer/songwriter whose performances have been known to result in spontaneous dance parties. Usually backed by her band – The Back River Bullies – Andi Rae has graced the stage at many venues in New York City and Philadelphia, including Littlefield, The Bell House (making a guest appearance at the Johnny Cash Birthday Bash) Rockwood Music, Southpaw, The Rodeo Bar, and of course Hank’s Saloon. Andi Rae was recently able to fund an EP by becoming a finalist at Cream of Philly Rising finalist at the World Cafe Live. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, she has since turned that into a full LP record titled If You Want to Be My Man, which will be released at Hank’s Saloon on September 18th. Andi Rae’s first CD, I Guess I am a Sinner, features appearances by Cyndi Lauper, Jill Sobule and Darden Smith.
Andi, your songs are sometimes whimsical, often poignant and always entertaining. What inspires your lyrics and melodies?
As much as I’d like to say it’s not boys – often it’s boys. Being heartbroken or pissed off is inspiring! But you will also find songs about cheating death (“Dear Death”), or a woman who walked across the country in the late 1800s (“3000 Miles”). Also! I crowd-funded this latest record and started writing songs about friends as bonus prizes and those ended up becoming a couple of my favorites. It was fun and expanding to have an assignment that made me look at subjects that I wouldn’t have before.
I have always enjoyed watching you perform. What goes through your mind when you are on stage performing your music? What do you love and/or hate about being up on stage?
The whole reason I picked up a guitar in the first place is because I love being on stage and singing in front of people. Before the guitar my only outlet was a choir, or musical theater and you can’t just pick up and do that whenever you want to. So… kind of I love everything about being on stage. But there are also certainly favorite parts. I love watching people enjoying themselves and dancing and singing along – I’m definitely not the type that wants her audience sitting there rapt and in silence. I also love interacting with the band – I missed that from my ensemble days when I started playing solo shows so I feel really lucky that I have a fun band to play around with on stage a little.
You can check out one of Andi’s performances here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggwy1APlT8w
Tell me about your current album, If You Want to Be My Man. How did it come about? What was it like working on it?
So as I mentioned above, I crowd-funded this record. I did that through Kickstarter. I thought I’d maybe go for a few thousand dollars and figure out the rest from there but a couple friends were like – can you make the record for that amount? No? Then go for more! So I upped it – which was SO stressful because with Kickstarter if you don’t get the whole thing you get nothing. But we did it! And I feel like I can attribute that success largely to Tammy Han who stylized the whole thing beautifully and kept making me amazing videos to update everyone with, as well as Nish Herat who we dubbed campaign manager and whose moral support was key. It ended up being really fun doing this campaign – and the fact that we met the goal of course didn’t hurt.
Working on the record was of course also fun. Being in the studio is always a great time and Sanford Livingston (the producer) and I had a great time doing it. However – I wasn’t anticipating how difficult it would be to make this whole working a full time job (was waiting tables when I made the last one and working 10-15 less hours a week!), so as it got further and further out I got more and more stressed. But it is done now and I’m really excited about. And ready to work on the next one! 🙂
What else gets you up in the morning? What are you passionate about? And how does this influence your creative life? (or does it?)
Well – I have a bit of a wanting to save the world complex. And the environment was at the top of the list for me for a good long while. Not that it’s not still a passion and a concern, but I used to actually hold an Earth Day benefit show once a year. So my creative life was definitely influenced in that way – but also in that it has shown up in my songs here and there. “The Girl in the Tree” is about Julia Butterfly, who actually lived in a tree to keep it from being chopped down. I also wrote one called “I Don’t Wanna Live on the Moon”. But the most well-received of these by far was one Bryan Dunn and I wrote for one of the Earth Day shows called “It’s the Ride”. It’s a duet and a lot of fun to perform and is on the new record!
I had to fade those shows out though (at least temporarily), when I got a day job that is now literally the thing that gets me out of bed in the morning. But as that job is with charity: water – which is a non-profit whose goal is to get clean and safe drinking water to the entirely too many people in the world that don’t have it – I didn’t actually give up on trying to save the world!
And, my standard teacher question: What advice would you give to a young musician who is considering a career in the music industry?
Oh man. So much. You hear this all the time but – don’t try to be what you’re not. Write/play/perform what feels natural and good to you or the audience will know. You’re better at what you love. For songwriters – you might be amazing right out of the gate but don’t count on it. Write write write – play songs for your friends, maybe get into a class or a songwriting circle. Listen to the classics – the artists that have stood the test of time. Be open to constructive criticism but also take it with a grain of salt because… see the first thing! And there is no accounting for taste. And know that being successful doesn’t have to mean playing to sold out arenas and making a million bazillion dollars. The way I feel about it is performing/playing/writing is the thing I love most in the world and if I get to do it on a regular basis – whether my own music or with other talented musicians I know – I’ve succeeded.
Wow! That is really fantastic advice. Thank you so much for joining me today!
Andi Rae & the Back River Bullies will be celebrating the release of their album on September 18th at Hank’s Saloon in Brooklyn. Learn more about Andi Rae at:
- http://andirae.com/
- https://www.facebook.com/andiraeandthebackriverbullies?ref=hl
- https://www.reverbnation.com/andiraehealy
And you can purchase the new album here:
