Andria Simone
Toronto, Ontario, Canada | Established. Jan 01, 2014 | INDIE | AFM
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ANDRIA SIMONE at Woodbine Park, Saturday, July 19. Rating: NNN
The first Saturday of the Beaches International Jazz Festival was very wet. But Torontonians are good sports. For Andria Simone’s 3 pm show, music lovers crammed in under the beer garden tents, and a smattering of umbrellas dotted the field.
Simone and her five-piece band, Those Guys – proficient and never overpowering – play crowd-pleasing retro soul that suited the outdoor vibe. But I couldn’t help wishing I was seeing them in a sweaty club.
The T.O.-born-and-bred singer was dryly funny and attempted to coerce spectators out of their chairs, but the weather and the fenced-off gap between the stage and


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Shows that rocked Toronto last week | NOW Magazine http://www.nowtoronto.com/music/story.cfm?content=198977

crowd initially kept a real connection from being made.
Simone’s rich, powerful pipes are raspier, grittier and more rock ’n’ roll live than on her polished latest album, Good Lovin’. They lent themselves well to the set’s varied genres: a cover of Cream’s Sunshine Of Your Love, a reggae tune, Stevie Wonder’s Super stition. - NOW
Toronto-based Andria Simone & Those Guys are on a major roll. They closed out June with a trip to Cognac, France to pick up an award as winner of the Hennessy artistry talent quest. During the week in France they opened for major European star Ben L’Oncle Soul and Monophonique as well as two or three other concerts, where they appeared on the same bills as Robert Plant, Taj Mahal, Lily Allen, Hiromi, Steven Seagal and Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne. Back in Toronto from Paris July 5 Andria and Those Guys will be met by two cars to drive them up to Jazz On The Mountain At Blue Mountain where they’ll open for The Commodores that evening. July 9 finds the band in NYC to play the prestigious Rockwood Music Hall.
(http://www.cashboxcanada.ca/sites/default/files/images/Beautiful Nothing.jpeg)
Back in the T.Dot, on July 19,it’s the main stage for the Beaches International Jazz Festival in Toronto’s East end. Come August 21 Andria Simone & Those Guys return to 3030 on Dundas Street West where they packed the room on their last show there, April 17. There won’t likely be many added summer dates , as the band have begun work on their as yet untitled sophomore album.
Alt-pop comers Beautiful Nothing will launch second single and video "Finer Things" any day now. The band is also set to play Festival of Friends in Hamilton on August 9th, with a string of live dates to follow. - CASHBOX Mag CANADA
For pure musical catharsis, There is just no substitute for some jazzy, funk-infused R&B served up on a platter of old school soul.
If your hostess happens to be a sassy diva with a pocketful of throwback Peggy Lee attitude, then so much the better. More............
- Metro news
ANDRIA SIMONE: A day after the official release date of her debut EP, Nothing Comes Easy, this young Toronto-based soul singer celebrated with a triumphant gig at Hugh's Room. Earlier shows at The Drake had helped fuel a buzz around Simone, and this show demonstrated why. She has a genuinely soulful voice that possesses both power and range, and her potential as a songwriter is shown by the fact she co-wrote five of the six tracks on Nothing Comes Easy. Her collaborators on the project are producer/songwriter GREG KAVANAGH and songwriter/co-producer DEMETRI JAMES. Together they've done a fine job of creating a genuine soul/r 'n b sound that still feels contemporary. ADELE is an obvious reference point for Simone's style. For the gig, she was accompanied by a fine young six-piece band, reportedly comprising students at the Humber College jazz program. They included a two-man horn section, something vital to deliver this sound in a live setting. As well as her strong vocal pipes, Simone demonstrated a very confident stage presence. Songs from the EP like “Nothing Comes Easy,” the bold “Do What I Want” and “Shame” shone in a live setting. They were supplemented by well-chosen covers of some soul, blues and pop classics, a highlight being a version of “I'd Rather Go Blind” that had the appreciative crowd cheering loudly. Definitely a rising star. - Tandem
Andria Simone
A five-song retro-sounding collection of bouncing funk belted and whispered by a Toronto gal who sounds as if she has the world on her string. A horn section right out of Muscle Shoals and Bobby-era backing vocals give this debut a punch that’s stamped KO. Best tracks: “Shame” and “Do What I Want”. The Greg Kavanagh/Demetri James team behind her nails this one to the wall.
David Farrell
- David Farrell
Andria Simone has got all the sass of Aretha. Gorgeous in a silver gown, the soaring ceilings of 213 Sterling Road can barely contain her powerful and soulful voice. Her feminism flares in an indestructible attitude, leaving the audience revved and inspired. This is a singer who has all it takes to climb aboard the fame train. Hear me now, and believe me later, you’ll be hearing more from this gal, but remember – you saw her first – at [FAT}.
- FAT
When we came across Toronto native Andria Simone last year, we needed little convincing that she possessed the type of talent that would take her places - unapologetically confident and assuredly self-possessed, she delivers the raw, grit-laden rasp of her powerfully resonant voice with a blistering, throat-shreddingly intense passion and an emotionally no holds barred honesty, leaving the listener in no doubt about the authenticity of her soulful, heart-on-the-sleeve musical aesthetic.
Read more: http://next2shine.com/watch-list-andria-simone-going-want#ixzz3Cw2tZpw7 -
Discography
Good Lovin' 2013
Photos
Bio
ANDRIA SIMONE
Evolve (Evolution Through Vibration)
The title of the second album from Andria Simone says it all: Evolve (Evolution Through Vibration). This totally compelling and accomplished record maps the musical and personal evolution of Simone, a young singer, songwriter and bandleader of truly breathtaking talent and charisma.
Released on GKM in March 2015, it comes less than 18 months after the release of Andria's debut full-length album, Good Lovin’. That record turned heads and ears, scoring impressive airplay on CBC radio, JAZZFM, Proud FM, college radio, and blues programs across the country. Above all else, it alerted the Canadian music industry to the presence of a new artist with unbridled potential. That promise is now fully realized on Evolve (Evolution Through Vibration), a work that showcases Simone at the very top of her game.
Evolve is much more of a band record than Nothing Comes Easy. Since that album's release, Simone has performed extensively with her ace young group, one she affectionately dubs Those Guys. They comprise bassist Mark Wilson, guitarist Dave Kirby, saxophonist Brian Dhari, and drummer George Nikolov (former member Anthony Brancati plays keyboards on Evolve). "Having a band involved now has completely changed the whole dynamic of what I do, and they're all over the new record," Andria says. "I believe that gives this album much more character."
Andria Simone's talent as a vocalist has never been in question. More a force of nature than an instrument, it's a voice that can send shivers up your spine while tugging at your heart. Her role models are such powerhouse singers as Janis Joplin, Tina Turner, Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin, Etta James and Amy Winehouse, and she does them proud on Evolve.
She is not a conventional 12-bar blues singer, but she can certainly excel in that format. That was vividly demonstrated recently when she participated in the famed Women's Blues Revue at Toronto's historic Massey Hall. Sharing the spotlight alongside such veterans as Shakura S'Aida, Divine Brown and Lori Yates, she dazzled with killer versions of tunes by Etta, Janis and Little Walter, earning a standing ovation.
Andria has rapidly made the move up to major music festivals without skipping a beat. She has made converts and sold huge numbers of CDs via electrifying performances at such GTA events as the Beaches Jazz Festival, Toronto Beer Festival and The Southside Shuffle.
Even more excitingly, she has now earned committed fans across the Atlantic. In June 2014, Andria Simone and Those Guys won the Hennessy Talent Quest, a prestigious international competition for new musical talent. The prize? An all-expenses paid week in Cognac, France, during which the band performed several shows at the Blues Passion Festival, a star-studded fest that featured such names as Robert Plant. George Benson and Lily Allen. Simone opened for major French soul star Ben l'Oncle Soul as well as playing their own headline show. And, yes, Andria and the lads happily enjoyed sampling the sponsor's products!
Proving that success was no fluke, in October Andria Simone and Those Guys were chosen to be a major part of the 6th Annual Lancaster (UK) Music Festival in the U.K.. They performed a marathon seven shows in six days, including playing a concert at Lancaster Castle and headlining the closing night show (they've already been invited back for 2015!). This music does - and will- travel exceptionally well, and Andria is itching to hit the road to perform her new material
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Band Members
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