Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Van Andrew, 29, of Cooper, Texas, auditioned with “Behind Blue Eyes” by The Who. A series of glory notes near the end of the performance prompted chair turns from Gwen and Blake. Gwen liked the unique sound in his voice. Blake called his voice different from anything he’s heard. Van opted to join Team Gwen.

Here’s more about Van:

* On Facebook, he describes his music as “a marriage of simple guitar riffs, indie rock, and word pictures sung from the heart.”

* There’s plenty of Van Andrew music to check out, including a pair of EPs on popular streaming sites — “Half the Man” released in July 2019 and “Mountain Man” from May.

* “Mountain Man” features five songs, which Van describes on social media as ” little pieces of me and my story wrapped into a few verses.”

* Van recorded the EP far from his home, at Rio Grande Studios in Albuquerque, N.M., with the help of Aaron Gillespie and Kenny Riley.

* “There’s a lot of laughter, discovery, and NM (New Mexico) chile hidden in this record, and I’ll never forget the memories that were made.”

* That EP includes the excellent “I Don’t Like It” with a single cover featuring Van wearing a paper bag with a frowny face on it. “Is it a song about heartbreak, or an anthem for the Corona virus? I’ll let you decide,” Van writes on Instagram. Check out it and another song from the EP below.

* In 2019, Van’s songs were streamed more than 266,000 times on Spotify.

* Writes Van in his Spotify bio: “When I was a young boy, I’d hike out to the back pasture of our farm with my guitar and strum and wail, trying my best to writes songs that said the things I felt. I’m a little older now, but I’m still strumming and wailing and trying to find words that fit the feelings I carry around.”

* When he isn’t making music, he’s art designer Andrew Berkemeyer.

* Van is now based in Nashville.

Van on social media:
Website
Instagram
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube