Andrew Foshee
Lake Lotawana, Missouri, United States | SELF
Music
Press
Local singer/songwriter Andrew Foshee’s latest CD, Melodramatic Popular Song, contains 10 tracks of well-played, well-produced and expertly tuned folk-pop. It’s probably one of the finest-sounding records of 2008, but also the music equivalent of walking in a run.
Foshee’s record has everything you’ve come to expect from the singer-songwriter genre. He mostly strums the acoustic. He also sometimes plays piano. And he’s found some excellent musicians to round out his sound with strings, brass and slide guitar.
All the musicianship is top-notch, as is the production. He even sounds a little like James Taylor, the king of the acoustic singer-songwriters. But instead of Taylor’s rending pathos we have Foshee’s rhyming.
From song to song Foshee gives the impression that he’s such an incredibly calm lyricist that words just fall effortlessly out of his mouth. Either that or he just makes it up as he goes along.
On the opening track he sings: “I don’t need to taste your lips. I don’t need you around here anymore, clinging to my hips.” It’s a lazy rhyme, to be sure, but dropped in such an offhand, confident manner. You can imagine Foshee in the studio. The clock’s running, notebook nowhere to be found and he calls out: “Screw it, roll tape, I’m gonna wing it.”
There are a couple bright spots on Melodramatic Popular Song. “For You,” a Beatles-y cut that’s hard not to compare to “Let It Be,” showcases Foshee’s piano chops and Doug Jenkins’ cello. Also, the dirgy, two-step drama of “The Waltz” lets loose Foshee to layer track after track of vocals, building dark waves of creeping beauty until it all explodes in a din of distortion and noise.
These songs feel so crisp because they break out of the singer-songwriter pattern that the rest of the record follows so strictly. They could make that crucial jump from interesting to outstanding if only Foshee put as much work into his lyrics as he does his arrangements.
He begins to explore more intimate depths on “The Waltz,” capping each chorus with: “Can you hear me calling?” Is he calling something passionate or heartbreaking? Unfortunately, no. All he can manage to get out is: “Ah-ahhhhh.” It should be something painful, or brutal, or downright frightening. You know he wants to. It’s right there but never quite comes out.
It’s obvious he can write great melodies without even trying. Next time up he’s just gotta swing for the bleachers and see what happens.
- Ink Magazine
Discography
Wasting My Time (2007)
‘Recorded in his living room with a bunch of cheap gear (and featuring Andrew on all instruments), Foshee’s Wasting My Time is an eclectic blend of ‘DIY’ home recordings that showcase an array of different genres from indie-pop to folk-rock, heartfelt piano ballads and riff-driven blues.’
Melodramatic Popular Song (2008)
‘Set to release this winter on Foshee’s independent label Indolent Records, Melodramatic Popular Song was recorded at Portland’s Jackpot Studio with engineer Larry Crane (Elliott Smith, M.Ward, Jenny Lewis) and features ten class-skipping tunes in the key of indie-pop.’
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Bio
Andrew Foshee is a musician/songwriter from Kansas City, Missouri. He has been writing and recording his own music since the age of sixteen, when his father brought him home The Beatles 'White Album' from a business trip. His music can most easily be described as 'eclectic indie-pop'.
Foshee sings and plays several instruments including guitar, bass, piano, drums and anything he can get his hands on. His 'player of many, master of none' technique has allowed him to generate a wide spetrum of sound. His first album 'Wasting My Time' features Foshee on all instruments, as well as playing the role of producer and engineer. It was recorded in his home during the fall of 2007 and released independently on CD Baby and iTunes early 2008 on Foshee's 'Indolent Music' (ASCAP).
During the summer of 2008, Foshee traveled to Portland, OR, to record 'Melodramatic Popular Song' at Jackpot Recording Studio with engineer Larry Crane. The two, along with the help of various other musicians they found on Craigslist (and featuring San Diego's Aaron Bowen on steel guitar and backup vocals) completed tracking for the album in eight days. It was later mixed and mastered by the very talented Dan Romer in Brooklyn, NY, and released independently on CD Baby and iTunes early 2009, also on Foshee's 'Indolent Music' (ASCAP).
Foshee is currently receiving local airplay on the eclectic Kansas City radio station, 90.9 FM 'The Bridge'.
During his career Foshee has had the opportunity to perform with and open for such acts as Tristan Prettyman, Ben Taylor, Augustana, Aaron Bowen, Greg Laswell, Anya Marina, Schuyler Fisk and Pieta Brown.
Foshee is also the founder of the Kansas City indie-rock band Bipolarbare, and together they are currently recording their debut album. He is also recording an alternative/country album with a local, traveling Nashville recording artist.
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