DATE: MARCH 14, 2012
FROM: TODD BRODGINSKI/MITCH SCHNEIDER/ANGELA VILLANUEVA/BARI LIEBERMAN
ANDY GRAMMER
TO PERFORM AS PART OF ALL-STAR LINEUP FOR
“WE WALK THE LINE: A CELEBRATION OF THE MUSIC OF JOHNNY CASH”
A CAPPELLA GROUP CONTEST “GRAMMER MADNESS” ACCEPTING ENTRIES NOW THROUGH MARCH 17;
WINNERS WILL PERFORM LIVE ONSTAGE WITH GRAMMER
LIVE EP ‘ANDY GRAMMER–LIVE FROM L.A.’ OUT NOW
GRAMMER’S SECOND SINGLE “FINE BY ME” CRUISES INTO TOP 15 AT ADULT POP RADIO
![]() |
Gold-selling pop singer, songwriter and musician ANDY GRAMMER has been invited to perform as part of an all-star lineup with some of music’s biggest names for “We Walk The Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash.” The one-time event–taking place April 20 at Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater in Austin, TX–will celebrate the life and legacy of Johnny Cash in honor of what would have been his 80th birthday this year. Others confirmed to perform include Kenny Chesney, Kris Kristofferson, Chris Cornell, Ronnie Dunn, John Hiatt, Amy Lee, Shooter Jennings, Lucinda Williams, Ray LaMontagne and Jamey Johnson with more legendary surprise guests to be announced soon.
“I think he brought a very distinguishable point of view,” says GRAMMER of Johnny Cash. “We all get the same chords and words to choose from, but few singers get across the raw honesty and vulnerability that Johnny Cash does. Music is supposed to make you feel, Johnny Cash will make you feel.” GRAMMER continues: “I am a fan of his lyric writing. His lyrics have a way of being simple and classic. You find yourself singing the words and knowing what rhyme is coming but it’s not a letdown, it’s more of a feeling that it’s exactly what should be there. That’s really hard to do–he was a master at it.”
GRAMMER–who began as a street performer in Santa Monica, CA–remains humble and grateful for all his recent successes. He recently used his Twitter page (@andygrammer) to offer advice to aspiring musicians with his Top Ten Tips for buskers. GRAMMER is now on the hunt to find the best a cappella groups in the country. From now through March 17, organized a cappella groups can upload a video of themselves to TopBlip.com performing any song of their choice from any artist. From there, based on TopBlip ratings, ‘Likes’ and ‘Tweets,’ the top groups will be selected to compete head-to-head in a bracket-formatted tournament much like the NCAA March Madness tournament, called “Grammer Madness.” The winning group will earn a FREE ANDY GRAMMER concert and they will have the opportunity to perform live onstage with GRAMMER (at a concert TBA). Complete rules and details can be found here.
Also this week, GRAMMER released his live EP ANDY GRAMMER–LIVE FROM L.A. on Tuesday (3/13) exclusively on iTunes and will make his return to appearance to “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” on Thursday (3/15). His latest single “Fine By Me”–the follow-up to his gold-selling, nearly platinum debut single “Keep Your Head Up”–continues its climb up the Adult Pop Charts, currently #14, as the music video for the song moves up the VH1 “Top 20” weekly video countdown to #12. Check out a Q&A with GRAMMER discussing the new EP here including his unique cover of Rihanna’s “We Found Love.” Check out the ARTISTdirect.com live video premiere of GRAMMER performing the song here.
“Grammer, a supremely talented singer-songwriter, employed a string section to help him rework ‘We Found Love’ and make it uniquely their own. It’s a gorgeous arrangement, and an interesting way to retool one of the pop singer’s biggest songs. Does it work? Oh hell yes. Grammer and the string section infuse their version with warmth and soul. It’s a full, epic and room-shaking rendition. Grammer doesn’t merely stand up there, strumming an acoustic guitar, looking like a dude trying to cover RiRi’s song. He owns it, giving it new life by taking it in an opposite direction. Grammer’s rendition is not dancefloor-style, but you can still dance to it! His version alternates between softly pretty and somewhat rowdy. It’s markedly different than the original, but it is just as good. You can still clap, dance and sing along. The ending is epic, too.”
—ARTISTDIRECT.COM, 3/13/12
www.andygrammer.com
http://www.facebook.com/andygrammer
https://twitter.com/andygrammer
For more information, please contact:
MSO: 818-380-0400
Mitch Schneider mschneider@msopr.com
Todd Brodginski toddb@msopr.com
Angela Villanueva avillanueva@msopr.com
Bari Lieberman (Tour) blieberman@msopr.com
###