Andi Starr

“Melodic pop junkies should get off on the title track without problems, hearkening back as it does to the breezy Californian sound of the 60’s.” - Amplifier Magazine

I know now that you can’t judge a book by its cover (or a CD in this case). Let me explain myself. The cover art on the CD screamed singer-songwriter to me, but when I popped this CD in I was very much surprised. There’s more than just vocals and guitar here, lots more. The music is a little dark but dark enough. Andi’s voice is silky and brings the sunshine. The musicianship is strong and well balanced. The pianist Madison is positioned just right in the mix and it works well. Song after song it’s a beautiful EP vocally and musically. - UNSIGNED Music Magazine

Review by Anna Maria Stjärnell

Andi Starr’s debut “Me Beautiful” lived up to its title and then some.

This ep continues where it left off. The title song is a choked-up lament with a catchy chorus. Starr’s lovely voice conveys a sense of loss.

“Denver” sees the narrator saying goodbye to the love of her life. Its suitably wistful and elegiac.

“Missing you” with its hushed vocal and ethereal playing closes the ep and makes me want to hear more soon.

Posted on August 10, 2005

Track Listing
Listen to track samples
1. Supergirl
2. Denver
3. Take Me Down
4. American Doll (Live at Reed College)
5. Missing You - Collected Sounds

I step into the stale air of Barnes & Noble, where a logo and four-dollar cappuccino replaces the mug and first-name basis of the local coffee house. The store flanks a highway choked with corporate America's obnoxious neon. An enormous Best Buy sign juts out with blinding hues of yellow and blue; the golden arches of McDonald's glimmer over the road. Another Longhorn steakhouse announces itself amid a vast island of blacktop carved up by bold white lines; the ground stained with oil of Fords, Hondas, Buicks and SUVs. This is the new scenery down in Stuart, Florida - one of the fastest growing towns in America. Where there were dirt roads, there are traffic lights. Where there were fruit stands, there is Walmart, Petco, Wendy's. Ten years ago you could drive through this town without passing a single car.

I did not come here for a four-dollar cappuccino; nor am I interested in a grande soy vanilla latte, thank you. I am here for the music. Specifically, "Live at Benaroya Hall," a two-disc unplugged set by Pearl Jam featuring a vicious and timely rendition of Dylan's "Masters of War." "Come you masters of war," Eddie Vedder bellows; his haunted voice poised to burst through the Ozone, "you that build all the guns/you that build the death planes/you that build all the bombs."

Most of my fellow shoppers, though, are not exactly clamoring for the "P" section. Mike, my friend behind the counter, tells me that Ashlee Simpson's "debut album" (how loosely we Americans have come to use these terms) just became the store's #1 best seller. The "record," as it is being called, was released just hours ago. "You know, she already had her own TV show before ever making an album," Mike says, "meanwhile, Pearl Jam gathers dust on the shelf." But after driving through a wilderness of advertising and corporate glitter on my way to work each morning, Mike's revelation is hardly an astonishment. So I wipe the dust off my copy, toss a crumpled receipt in the trash by the door, and dart for my car stereo; Circuit City's crimson insignia looking on from across the street.

But even Vedder and his taut guitar duo of McCreedy and Ament do not prepare me for the allures of Andi Starr, whose new album, Me Beautiful, waits for me in my mailbox. No, Ms. Starr does not have any sisters on TV, and you haven't heard of her. Starr, a local singer/songwriter from Oregon promoted by her manager/husband, writes great songs and prefers to keep her clothes on, if you please. The new album, Starr's second, offers neither Gwen Stefani's navel nor Britney Spears's latest hair color. No wonder I don't see her photo next to Ashlee Simpson's in Barnes & Noble display windows.

Nor is it any surprise to hear Starr singing "hold a mirror up to your soul/not your face/up to your heart." As the opening track's patient crescendo of piano, guitar and drums blooms into a soundscape entirely her own, I quickly understand that Starr's songs cut deeper than flesh, farther than bone. "I would crawl inside of you," she croons amid "Little Angel's" hushed ambience, "to find the room that is dark." But Starr, who confesses to a terror of performing and "being seen," is a bit modest. There is nothing conditional about it: these songs do crawl inside of you, and as the biographical note on her web site, www.andistarr.com, asserts, "If Andi's music doesn't follow you, haunt you, comfort you, awaken you, challenge you, inspire you, then you're simply not listening."

Andi Starr hits the right notes: the notes that hurt, the notes that know you, the notes that make you meet yourself. If glass had a voice it would sing like this woman. Fragile and clean, listening to her vocals is like peaking through the wiped window of an abandoned house. It is dark inside but you look a little harder, you want to know what's in there. Gradually you begin to discern the silhouette of a coffee stand, the impression of a light switch, the beveled edges of a mirror. You can almost make out the angles where walls come together to form the corners of the room.

The brilliance of Starr's work - truly a refreshing experience - is in its refusal to flip the light on. Me Beautiful never exposes more than shapes and shadows strewn about its dimly lit landscape of sound. Songs like "Wash Away," with its gentle and surprising gust of mandolin and percussion, allow listeners to imagine and participate where so many of her renowned contemporaries condescend and overindulge. The structured harmonies of many of these songs are as taut as any radio single without compromising the artist's integrity.

Starr's voice and lyrics plead with the past: the bruises of its memories and the dreams of its pleasures. Yet, for all the album's complicated emotions and ideas, Starr herself seems to put it best in the end: "it's simpler than we make it out to be/yeah it's simpler than we make it out to be." This may or may not be true of life, but it certainly speaks accurately for the music. That is precisely the thing that cannot be said of so much product hurled upon the masses by many of pop music's female singer/songwriters. Andi Starr is new because her music is a familiar echo of the roots that made it possible: from Judy Collins and Cindy Lauper on down to Julie Miller and Aimee Mann. Starr's voice combines the earnestness and intensity of this eclectic heritage into one cohesive force. One can only hope that it will soon be a force of change and influence.


Gianmarc Manzione received an MFA in poetry from New School University in May 2004. Three poems from his first collection, This Brevity, will appear in issue #173 of The Paris Review. He is also a writer for Bowlers Journal, the oldest sports magazine in the country.
- Blue Coupe Magazine

Review by Anna Maria Stjärnell

I reviewed Andi Starr’s previous album and ep and found her to be a compelling artist. She continues making sweet music on this new album, she has a lovely voice and it comes across strongly on the opening title track.

The brilliant “Save Yourself” is vaguely reminiscent of Aimee Mann’s pop precision.

“Martin Eden/under the Lighthouse” is melancholy, Starr’s vocals balanced against a lively backdrop.

“Beneath the Bridge” is fragile yet holds together thanks to the luminescent singing and the piano bits. Starr’s made another richly rewarding album.

Posted on January 18, 2007

Track Listing
Listen to track samples
1. Leaving the White Line
2. Save Yourself
3. Big Country (Open Spaces)
4. Martin Eden/Under the Lighthouse
5. Hold On
6. Beneath the Bridge
7. Real Love, Baby
8. Driving for the Sun
9. Running to Stand Still
10. Big Country (Little Town)
11. You Will See

[Andi Starr Official Site] - Collected Sounds

Review by Anna Maria Stjärnell

This is an achingly fragile and yes, beautiful record from Andi Starr. The title track sees her singing compelling but her words are of self-loathing. Still the song offers a tiny sliver of hope to hang on to.

“Little Angel” continues and is the barest whisper of a song, barely there but all the better for it. “Ellliott” is a tribute to the late Elliott Smith and it’s very moving. It becomes a quiet lullaby as Starr sings of missing the “man the white suit”.

“Hold on” is vaguely more upbeat and recalls Mazzy Starr. The edgy lyrics to “Billboard Bait” paint an ugly picture of Hollywood but the song remains calm all the same.

Listen closely and you get the idea.

“Me Beautiful” is a fine addition to anyone’s collection.

Posted on October 11, 2004

Track Listing
Listen to track samples
1. Missing you
2. Me Beautiful
3. Little angel
4. In your letters
5. Turn this ship
6. Elliott
7. Hold on
8. Billboard bait
9. Wounded Little bird(hush prelude)
10. Hush
11. Wash away
12. When you get to your season
- Collected Sounds

Review by Anna Maria Stjärnell

I’ve reviewed Andi Starr in the past, and always enjoyed her work. Her new record is also a fine piece of work.
This time she’s mostly gone it alone, and she’s good at it. Her warm vocals support the songs well.

Another Day is an example of the hushed, intimate folk sound she does so well.

Rebel Sky has some stunning harmony vocals and a piano melody that’s mellifluous and pretty.

First Love has lightly strummed guitar and a sad lyric about loss. Starr’s vocals recall early Jewel, in a soft moment.

Under the Same Sky is plaintive but hopeful, acknowledging the differences and similarities between us all.
It might sound like an easy thing to have come across, but it’s not.

Starr has a rare gift for bringing out things like this in her music. May she keep making her music for a long time to come.

Track Listing
1. New Warm World
2. Another Day
3. Rebel Sky
4. Go to the Ocean
5. Stardust
6. First Love
7. Sing My Song
8. Crow
9. Under the Same Sky
10. She’s So Sweet
11. Letter From a King
12. Rebel Sky (Night Version)
13. Lavender & Cinnamon
- Collected Sounds

LIVE MUSIC
Weekend!Music: Place is old, but the music sounds fresh
By Barbara Mitchell
The Portland Tribune Jan 26, 2007

POP
Andi Starr
With her clear, delicate voice, Portland songstress Andi Starr has earned comparisons to Mazzy Star and the Cranberries, while her polished pop has all the emotional depth of Tori Amos but without the histrionics.

On the contrary, Starr's songs are quiet ruminations on the ups and downs of being human.

She's celebrating the release of her excellent new album, "Leaving the White Line," a lovely collection of gorgeously understated material that showcases those beautiful vocals.

7 p.m. FRIDAY, Jan. 26, Mississippi Studios, 3939 N. Mississippi Ave., 503-288-3895, $12
- The Portland Tribune

A calling - Andi Starr embraces music as her life and is ready to take her show on the road
Friday, January 26, 2007
LEE WILLIAMS

In her early 20s, Andi Starr made a nervous investment in a new identity.

The self-confessed "total jock" -- a runner from high school in Eastern Washington through college near Santa Barbara, Calif. -- purchased a classical guitar for $100. She'd never played guitar, never written songs.

"I thought, 'OK, what am I going to do with this?' Everything before that was about running, long-distance, marathons; I didn't give myself the credit of being creative, even though everyone else around me was," says Starr, 33.

Her father, a Presbyterian pastor, played upright bass. Her mom played viola and piano and wrote cantatas for their church. Before being a pastor, her father even toured with his jazz band -- a road that Starr, now with four critically lauded independent albums to her credit, is beginning to embark on.

She begins tonight with the release show for her ephemeral and honest fourth CD, "Leaving the White Line," at Mississippi Studios. Afterward, Starr will perform her first shows outside of Oregon, in Seattle and California.

Starr's religious community pushed her to pursue her musical interests, but it was not positive encouragement.

Starr, along with her two sisters, had spoken to a secular therapist to deal with issues related to childhood abuse. Their church effectively shunned them. Starr sings as much in the second track on "White Line," titled "Save Yourself": "Left my religion to look for me/And they laughed at me."

Starr says, "For me, music was God. It was art, it was spirituality -- and a lot of the first three albums were about getting out of that."

Starr's love of music carved space between her and her parents.

"We didn't speak for 10 years," Starr says. "When I set boundaries, all of my family and friends freaked out."

Starr continued crafting songs while working toward her master's degree in psychology. She has worked for the past five years as a therapist.

"When I went in to get my master's I really wanted to help people through what I'd been through. The music helped me through that time," she says. "And now, my parents and I do speak. They've heard the last two CDs. And they've been respectful. They appreciate the instrumentation."

Along for this tour, and to provide backing harmonies, will be Starr's identical twin, Madison Christine, who also lives in Portland. But the sisters won't be bringing along a carload of emotional baggage.

The album's lyrics address her family experiences, certainly. But intricate texturing -- swirls of strings and piano chords -- gives the tracks depth and warmth, distance and maturity, evidence of healing and hope.

Starr is excited and hopeful, setting her sights on music festivals and more out-of-state gigs.

Still, she has a feeling of risk now that she is diving heart first into her music. "I am a little nervous," she says. "But I realize this is who I am, this is what I've always wanted to do. And getting out there, onstage, now feels so right. Like a dolphin in its own water. I feel like, this is what I'm born to do."

Lee Williams is a Portland freelance writer; lwilliams@gmail.com. - The Oregonian - featured article in the Living section

Portland, Oregon native Andi Starr is quite the different kind of singer! Here’s a singer-songwriter which combines life’s heartfelt miseries with etherical music, and a clear, beautiful, whispered nimphlike voice that is to die for!

She started her career with the 2002 self-release of full-length American Doll, and followed that up with full-length Me Beautiful (2004) and 5-track EP Supergirl (2005). The title song of the latter was picked for a national video in tribute to Cindy Sheenan (mother of a marine killed in Iraq), but the promissed release of it was indefinitely postponed due to Hurricane Katrina, and eventually the video wàs released on YouTube. In 2006 Starr decided to drop her daytime job to become a full-time musician. Obviously, this career move left her time to move about and promote her new album Leaving The White Line through the many regional and national concerts she started doing. The response was almost immediate and positive, coming in the form of a front page feature article of The Oregonian’s “Living” section (Jan. 2007) and the artist being invited twice on Portland’s radio show Local Music Spotlight (KINK radio station). She was also invited to feature on two Seattle based radio stations’ shows (one of ‘em even picking a track off the album for their New Music Sampler, distributed on a 10,000 copy rotation). Starr undertook successful national college and Triple-A radio campaigns, got her album reviewed positively in recognized national publications, saw Leaving The White Line become a top-selling album on CDBaby, and became a sell-out artist at Portland’s best venues. Closer to home, she also saw two songs of hers used in the documentary Climb For Life, which relates the adventures of a group of men and women living with HIV/Aids during their trip up Mount Kilimanjaro. To her that was perhaps the biggest accomplishment, as she had worked very closely with the gay population in her capacity of therapist during her dayjob times.

In early 2008 Starr shoved all her belongings (among which her partner and a cat) in a van, and moved to Southern California. There, she spent most of the year writing, composing, and recording her new album almost entirely in the garage of her new home. Most of the instruments (acoustic guitar, present in most tracks, but also electric guitar, mandolin, keyboards, organ, harpsichord, vibraphone, tongue drum & frog) she played herself, but she also invited several other musicians to contribute to some of the songs [contributions on drums (either classic or ethnic, done by two separate musicians) being nececitated most as well as bass (contributed again by two musicians)…there’s also a contribution on sax, another on cello, yet another on piano…and even two musicians playing additional guitars, either acoustic or electric (for a complete list of the collaborators, check out the MySpace blog posted on July 6]. According to what’s posted on the artist’s own website andistarr.com, the new album reflects some of the sunny disposition of her new homestead, is more personal in nature, and herein is the voice of a mature woman in a different place, a new warm world, truly in her element.

Okay, so when listening to the songs posted at myspace.com/andistarr (personally, I would advice you to stay on andistarr.com, because there’s móre posted there, like the complete new album, for instance), you definitely might find that, although the singing has always been hauntingly beautiful & the music etherically enchanting and melodic, there is indeed a warmth in the new compositions which elevates the new material to a new level. You might ask me, “Why haven’t I heard about this wonderful nymph of yours before? Why ain’t she on some major label yet?” and I simply couldn’t give you an answer to that! I have long since stopped trying to get what’s in the manager-type CEO’s minds of ttodays records labels, who’re geared only towards bands that are most in taste with the public at the moment, rather than into the development of musicians that could become some of the Greater Artists of this world! At any rate, here’s one that gets MY full support! If you’re into the hauntingly beautiful, check out Andi Starr, because her quality is simply of stellar grandeur! In the course of her career, Andi Starr has had comparisons to such established artists as Tori Amos, early Jewel, or Azure Ray, and I truly hope she may find herself on that same level in the music business some day!

98/100

—Tony, TSM/SLW Promotion, UK - Concrete Web

Haunting, ethereal, melodic… these are all words that describe the vocal quality of Andi Starr’s music somewhat inaccurately. Originally hailing from Oregon, after four albums with varying band members, she packed herself, partner and cat into a van and headed to California to record this, her fifth.As a classically trained pianist, Andi has an underlying confidence to her musical composition. On this album she has mainly played all the instruments herself, and even recorded some tracks live in a garage. This is not about making a commercial success, it’s about creativity, beauty, and letting the light shine through.

So what’s it like? Well, the vocal is haunting and ethereal – if you like some of the gentler Goth orientated, female-fronted bands such as Lacuna Coil, you might want to give this a spin. True, it’s very folksy in places – but also very deep, minor chords sprinkled everywhere as a nod to introspection. This is probably what we should call music for grown-ups.

Andi looks like a 1960’s refugee, all pale face and parka, but she’s not a child. The childlike quality of her voice is something dreamy, elfin, otherworldly. Not everything need be loud guitars and attitude – this lady tells her stories and makes her comment on a variety of different themes in a softer way, the lyrics insinuating their way into consciousness, helped by delicate melodies on guitar, piano, and a whole host of other interesting instruments such as mandolin and varied percussion.

It’s world folk music, but with the intensity that is often only seen at the harder end of Rock these days. It’s Portishead without the razor blades, stroking you like the cat until you acquiesce. It’s beautiful, lazy afternoon music, redolent with bluesy tones and the sunshine of a California sky, yet brimming with real life. You wanna chill out and float away? Take a boat ride with Andi Starr and swim away inspired. Gorgeous.
- Komodo Rock

Andi Starr's latest release, Warm New World, arrived in my post with a note attached to the CD: 'listen to tracks 3, 5 & 11' (I think; I threw the note out). Whether the artist or her PR agent wrote the note I'm not sure, but my first thought was, 'This is going to be easy. Three songs and I'm done.' Well, when reviewing music, things are never that easy. Warm New World requires more than a sampling to get the full flavor of the work.

Andi Starr's mostly quiet work of light and ambient alternative rock is not a style I normally have in rotation. Compared to Tori Amos and Jewel in the past, I know little of those artists, and would not even venture to make a comparison. If Starr was doing hard rock or heavy metal, then I'd have a point of reference. But a little listening outside the box is always a good thing for me.

Andi Starr is a fine composer deftly blending acoustic guitar and piano into delicate and ethereal compositions. The mood of Warm New World is reflective, thoughtful and a slightly angst driven though without any pretentious navel-gazing. Starr's vocals are airy and mesmerizing, but sometimes loosely unintelligible as she often sounds like she singing with a lisp or through a plastic straw. Regardless, her style both compliments and expands her musical style. Between her vocals and arrangements she calms and subdues like a soothing pinot noir on a cool late afternoon.

The suggested songs were Rebel Sky, Stardust, and Letter From a King; they're all fine songs, yet my favorite was the last, thanks to the horn arrangement. Alternatively, I would suggest Go To The Ocean, Crow, and the title track as some of the most delightful tracks. However, if this musical style is up your alley, then Warm New World is a complete and satisfying work. I think I'll pull it out just piss off my scarf-wearing, latte-sniffing pinhead friends who think us heavy metal kids have no culture or musical depth. Quite recommended. - Dangerdog Music Reviews

A Culturespill Flashback: Andi Starr’s “Me Beautiful”
30th April 2008

I step into the stale air of Barnes & Noble, where a logo and four-dollar cappuccino replaces the mug and first-name basis of the local coffee house. The store flanks a highway choked with the obnoxious and insistent neon glow of corporate excess. An enormous Best Buy sign juts out with blinding hues of yellow and blue; the golden arches of McDonald’s glimmer over the road. Another Longhorn steakhouse announces itself amid a vast island of blacktop carved up by bold white lines; the ground stained with oil of Fords, Hondas, Buicks and SUVs. This is the new scenery down in Stuart, Florida — one of the fastest growing towns in America. Where there were dirt roads, there are traffic lights. Where there were fruit stands, there is Walmart, Petco, Wendy’s. Ten years ago you could drive through this town without passing a single car.

I did not come here for a four-dollar cappuccino; nor am I interested in a grande soy vanilla latte, thank you. I am here for the music. Specifically, Live at Benaroya Hall, a two-disc unplugged set by Pearl Jam featuring a vicious and timely rendition of Dylan’s “Masters of War.” “Come you masters of war,” Eddie Vedder bellows, his haunted voice poised to burst through the Ozone, “you that build all the guns/you that build the death planes/you that build all the bombs.”

Most of my fellow shoppers, though, are not exactly clamoring for the “P” section. It is 2004, and Mike, my friend behind the counter, tells me that Ashlee Simpson’s “debut album” (how loosely we Americans have come to use these terms) just became the store’s #1 best seller. The “record,” as it is being called, was released just hours ago. “You know, she already had her own TV show before ever making an album,” Mike says, “meanwhile, Pearl Jam gathers dust on the shelf.” But after driving through a wilderness of advertising and corporate glitter on my way to work each morning, Mike’s revelation is hardly an astonishment. So I wipe the dust off my copy, toss a crumpled receipt in the trash by the door, and dart for my car stereo, Circuit City’s crimson insignia glowering from across the street.

But even Vedder and his taut guitar duo of McCreedy and Ament do not prepare me for the allures of Andi Starr, whose album, Me Beautiful, waits for me in my mailbox. No, Ms. Starr does not have any sisters on TV, and you probably haven’t heard of her. Starr, a local singer/songwriter from Oregon promoted by her manager/husband, writes great songs and prefers to keep her clothes on, if you please. The album, Starr’s second, offers neither Gwen Stefani’s navel nor Britney Spears’ latest hair color. No wonder I don’t see her photo next to Ashlee Simpson’s in Barnes & Noble display windows.
Nor is it any surprise to hear Starr singing “hold a mirror up to your soul/not your face/up to your heart.” As the opening track’s patient crescendo of piano, guitar and drums blooms into a soundscape entirely her own, I quickly understand that Starr’s songs cut deeper than flesh, further than bone. “I would crawl inside of you,” she croons amid “Little Angel’s” hushed ambiance, “to find the room that is dark.” But Starr, who confesses to a terror of performing and “being seen,” is a bit modest. There is nothing conditional about it: these songs do crawl inside of you, and as the biographical note on her Web site asserts, “If Andi’s music doesn’t follow you, haunt you, comfort you, awaken you, challenge you, inspire you, then you’re simply not listening.”

Andi Starr hits the right notes: the notes that hurt, the notes that know you, the notes that make you meet yourself. If glass had a voice it would sing like this woman. Fragile and clean, listening to her vocals is like peeking through the wiped window of an abandoned house. It is dark inside but you look a little harder, you want to know what’s in there. Gradually you begin to discern the silhouette of a coffee stand, the impression of a light switch, the beveled edges of a mirror. You can almost make out the angles where walls come together to form the corners of the room.

The brilliance of Starr’s work — truly a refreshing experience — is in its refusal to flip the light on. Me Beautiful never exposes more than shapes and shadows strewn about its dimly lit landscape of sound. Songs like “Wash Away,” with its gentle and surprising gust of mandolin and percussion, allow listeners to imagine and participate where so many of her more renowned contemporaries condescend and overindulge. The structured harmonies of many of these songs are as taut as any radio single without compromising the artist’s integrity.
Starr’s voice and lyrics plead with the past: the bruises of its memories and the dreams of its pleasures. Yet, for all the album’s complicated emotions and ideas, Starr herself seems to put it best in the end: “it’s simpler than we make it out to be/yeah it’s simpler than we make it out to be.” This may or may not be true of life, but it certainly speaks accurately for the music. That is precisely the thing that cannot be said of so much product hurled upon the masses by many of pop music’s female singer/songwriters. Andi Starr is new because her music is a familiar echo of the roots that made it possible: from Joni Mitchell and Cindy Lauper on down to Julie Miller and Aimee Mann. Starr’s voice combines the earnestness and intensity of this eclectic heritage into one cohesive force. One can only hope that it will soon be a force of change and influence. - Culturespill

When one comes across a phenomenon, the five essential questions often come up: who, what, where, when, and why. When this phenomenon is a female artist, though, all of those questions can be answered and there is really only one question: have you heard this?! Admittedly, I’m not attracted to female artists like I’m attracted to girls in general; however, there are exceptions to any rule, and Portland-based Andi Starr is that exception this time around. Who? Andi Starr, a classically trained pianist whose (When) fourth album (What) “Leaving the White Line” has received as much (Where) Portland, and even national, attention as any indie singer-songstress could hope for.

The Why could be due to the fact that Starr is from the Mecca of indie music, or that “Leaving the White Line” was produced by Larry Crane…yea, that guy who produced Cat Power and Elliott Smith. Then again, it could be because Starr spells her name with a double ‘r’. Nah, I think it is simply Andi’s non-simplistic ability to construct melodic, folkie, piano-driven, indie rock and beautifully combine it with her airy voice—a truly alchemical concoction. Often compared to the Cranberries, Tori Amos, and Aimee Mann, Andi’s aerial voice is reminiscent of Saddle Creek’s Maria Taylor combined with the Cincinnatian duo Ellery. Indeed, Andi is most like Ellery in her avant-garde vision of what music is capable of. Put simply, Andi is honest and looks beneath the surfaces of her life to probe into the mysteries that are often overlooked when writing about heartache. That is, she’s talking about life, and that entails a lot more than the typical indie-folk artist who spends (if us listeners are lucky) exuberant amounts of energy singing out love gone wrong.

Maybe that is because Andi’s heartache has had the steady hand of a loving partner. Andi and her partner Asher recently moved from the dreary weather of the Pacific Northwest and settled in the Sunshine state in Ventura, a quaint town on the edge of the Pacific. I recently visited with Andi and Asher (Asher and I are class buddies) and Andi briefly told me, in prose, her journey from homegrown religion to independently venturing off on her own to take on that heavy task of re-orienting her spiritual life. “Leaving the White Lane” poetically traces this journey, with all its joy, pain, anticipation, and drudgery in such a way that uncovers the enigmatic album art that displays a figure rising from a cool, comforting blue, across a white a line, into a an ethereal gray. Us Midwesterners who take our spirituality seriously know of this atmospheric gray…where the white line we traverse re-creates not only our personal avant-garde visions, but who we are as a person. And that person is often more poetic, more spiritual, which means for many of us—without more answers, than we might have ever imagined.

Andi is in the works of her fifth album. Leaving the oft-gray-skies of Portland, Andi only has clear skies ahead of her. And those of us who get to tag along on for the ride will find that, ironically, she’s not leading the way, but sharing the journey with us. With the exception, of course, that Andi is capable of creating music that really leaves one breathless, and therefore speechless.

-Mr. Green - PAUSE MAGAZINE

ANDI STARR
EAVING THE WHITE LINE
INDEPENDENT
Darkness, darkness, be my pillow? Portland based singer-songstress Andi Starr rekindles the femme fatale fervor of her Lilith Fair predecessors (think Juliana Hatfield, Tori Amos, Throwing Muses) on the many magical, murky, and mystical musings embedded within Leaving The White Line. Thanks to a jazz-tinged rhythm section that punctuates her breathy melodies with a swing ethos, plus the less-is-more production smarts of Larry Crane (Elliot Smith, Cat Power, Sleater-Kinney), Starr’s folksy compositions sparkle though the ballads and rockers alike. The title cut, which kicks off the record, spookily hangs in the air by way of reverberating arpeggios and bleary bass motifs as the singer mournfully croons over a love lost “out there, beyond the fog.” “Save Yourself,” which details Starr’s outsider status amongst her religious group, really hits home with an electric violin passage (rendered by Donny Wright) worthy of John Cale in his VU days. And Starr’s cover of U2’s “Running To Stand Still” is worthy of the VU in their Cale days. In an increasingly vapid commercial pop landscape, Starr’s White Line is a gem uncovered.

--Tom Semioli, Amplifier Magazine - Amplifier Magazine

ANDI STARR
NEW WARM WORLD
INDEPENDENT
Turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream. Following her brilliant 2007 release Leaving The White Line, Starr’s latest collection emerges as a rather mellow, introspective journey. A classically trained pianist who transfers her skills to the acoustic guitar, Starr weaves her signature legato melodies through all sorts of cosmic folk terrain on New Warm World. Though she plays a myriad of instruments (keyboards, electric/acoustic guitar, vibraphone, harpsichord, tongue drum, mandolin, percussion etc.), Starr shines brightest when she has a living, breathing rhythm section pushing her. Case in point: Chris Donohue’s warm fretless bass and drummer Greg Hardy’s jazzy brush-work add an ethereal dimension to “Rebel Sky.” Ditto “Go To The Ocean” (bassist Mark Hashimoto, Lee Scrivner on djembe) which is the stuff of Joni Mitchell in her remarkable mid-to-late 70s incarnation with Charles Mingus, Pat Methany, and Jaco Pastorious. Starr’s angular, avant-garde electric guitar backdrop to the folksy torch song “Sing My Song” is reminiscent of Robert Fripp’s work with the The Roaches as two diametrically opposed genres sit perfectly well together - highly recommended for pop listeners who wish to stretch their musical horizons.

--Tom Semioli [July 6, 2009] - Amplifier Magazine

"Can something be so haunting and so beautiful at the same time? I haven't stopped listening all weekend long..."
-Triple A Radio promoter, Jeff Appleton - Jeff Appleton, Triple A Radio promoter

Way back when, before singer/songwriter Andi Starr was even born, there was a smash hit TV show featuring Marlo Thomas as "That Girl." Around the same time period there was the pop hit by the Seekers, "Georgie Girl." The mid nineties featured a movie cult classic "Tank Girl." Now fast forward to present day, subtract a boat load of corporate cash, Hollywood hype and bean counting entertainment executives and we have "Supergirl," an Independent release by Portland artist Andi Starr.

Somewhere between Joni Mitchell's "Blue" and Jill Sobule's "Happy Town" you'll hear Andi's "Supergirl." Her ability to hem quirky, dreamy hooks with acoustic folk flavors and story telling makes this indie release a must have. Like a good set up pitcher, this release sets the stage for her musical future.

The five songs on "Supergirl" seems to absorb itself into your heart. I am impressed by her ability to share her hopes, fears, sorrows and pleasures with simple lyric and melody. She casts her emotions out to sea and opens a window with a clear view into her soul, paying no mind to pretentious radio pop formulas.

My favorite cut, "Denver" explains an early marriage without direction.

"We fell in love, got married,
unwrapped our empty gifts of shame.
Then we made love to our reflections
only to find ourselves alone again."

Andi Starr is a classically trained pianist with a masters degree in psychology. Her first effort "American Doll" was part of her thesis in her master's program. Her second release "Me Beautiful" was a best-seller on the popular indie internet chart CDBaby just two years later.

Seasoned music industry engineers Dean Baskerville, Lars Fox and Rick McMillen have all been seduced by her austere, honest songwriting/singing to produce this latest effort. Not bad, considering these gents combined have turned knobs for the likes of Sheryl Crow, Everclear, John Mayer, and Kenny G.

In an American pop music world which has the attention span of a child and is coaxed only by cheesy videos, sound samples and tabloid sex scandals, Andi Starr is indeed a Supergirl.
- Columbia River Reader