Gaining momentum
Andrew Waite records second CD, ‘Tremors’, along with performing, teaching and earning university degree
Andrew Waite knows how to get the most out of each and every day.
The award-winning P.E.I. singer songwriter is also a talented teacher, known for running Island Rock Camps, in conjunction with Holland College’s School of Performing Arts. He’s also the force behind the annual Andrew Waite P.E.I. Jazz and Blues Festival School Tour. In addition, he recently earned his education degree.
“I’m feeling really good. It’s been a long time coming and I’m really excited.” Andrew Waite
And, if all that wasn’t enough, for the past two years Waite has been working on material for a second album.
Music lovers will get their first taste of his new offering, “Tremors”, today during a CD launch in Charlottetown.
“I’m feeling really good. It’s been a long time coming and I’m really excited,” says Waite of the concert that hits the stage of The Mack, starting at 7:30 p.m.
Part of LIVE @ the Centre, it will feature Waite and his new band: Matt MacEachern on drums; Chris Martell, bass; Donovan Morgan of the Royal North, guitar; and Jon Matthews, vocals and percussion. Joining them are band regulars Nikki Waite and Sean Ferris.
For the show they’ll perform some full band numbers.
They’re also “stripping it down” and playing some acoustic songs, featuring Waite and Nikki.
“I love doing the intimate, singer-songwriter stuff.
“So. it’s going to be nice to show both sides of what we do in one show,” says Waite of the concert that will showcase new songs from the album, audience favourites and “a couple of surprises”.
“We have a horn session joining us at the end of the show. That’s going to be fun,” says the performer who has been gaining momentum since his debut award-winning release, “Burning Through the Night” in 2015.
His second CD features nine original tracks, including rock songs like “Let Me Down Hard” and softer folk songs like “Cash it In”.
“‘Cash it In’ is a neat song. It’s about my great-great-grandfather, Thomas Love, who was in the First World War, writing letters back to the family. The last letter he wrote before he died, I took it and arranged it into a song. The track ends with Cynthia MacLeod on fiddle, playing ‘Hector the Hero’.”
The album launch comes at the end of a busy year for Waite and his wife.
“Nikki and I spent the last eight