Andrea Floyd

Andrea Floyd's life has undergone some major changes in the past few years. After graduating from Duke University in May 1999, she entered the finance profession as a trading assistant at a Boston investment firm. Another job and nine months later she made the decision to leave the corporate world, move to Los Angeles, and pursue her dream--making it as a successful singer/songwriter/performer. "I met so many people 20 or 30 years older than me who were miserable with what they had become, and I felt like I was on the same track," she explains. "I knew that if I didn't try to make a living singing and writing, I always would wonder if I could have done it."

Andrea has been playing music for as long as she can remember, beginning with music appreciation and recorder lessons. At age 8 she picked up the flute and has been playing it and performing since then. She continued studying and performing at Duke where she minored in Music. It also was at Duke that she began learning guitar and discovering her voice. "I was never a singer, probably because I lacked the confidence. But I went through a dark time in college and turned to music for comfort--primarily Sarah McLachlan's Fumbling Towards Ecstasy. Not exactly an uplifting album! But it made me feel like I wasn't alone. I learned every word to that album and would sing it every day." Soon, desiring to learn guitar to accompany herself, she sought the help of her father and a college friend to learn basic chords. Never having written a song of her own, she decided to take a songwriting class her final semester of college, and after graduating, she wrote sporadically, until coming to the decision to focus on music. "After I decided to take the plunge, the songs started flowing. I also started playing all the time and improving quite a bit in terms of singing, writing and playing guitar. It was as if a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders, because I finally was doing what I had wanted to do all along."

"Intensely personal" is perhaps the phrase that best describes her music. "My song lyrics definitely reflect what was going on in my life when I wrote them. For example, 'Don't You Worry About Me' is my explanation of why I needed to make this change in the direction of my life, and it was written just before I moved to LA." Her lyrics are remarkably mature for someone who wrote her first song just two years ago. Her songs are full of striking and unique images: "My life begins where your shadow ends" ("Year After Year"); "I've memorized my parting lines/A perfect scripted scene/But when you take the stage beside me/My liquid words will freeze" ("Underneath the August Sky"); and, "Do you hear the sighs of all the world-weary statues/Glassy-eyed and doing all the things the swore they'd never do" ("Don't You Worry About Me"). "I know a lot of my songs are sad, but they also have an overall hopeful message. They are a reflection of me and of everything I have experienced--in my own life and through those around me. There are both happy and sad moments, and I try to capture both and put them into words other people can relate to, enjoy and feel." Complementing the lyrics is her stunning voice, which continues to captivate her audiences. Reviewers on Garageband.com have commented on her “soaring voice,” “extraordinary” and “professionally perfect vocals,” and “great emotion.” She says, "I feel very lucky to have this gift. Singing, whether it's in front of the mirror at home or in a crowded coffeehouse is the greatest emotional release I have experienced."

Since moving to Los Angeles, Andrea has given acclaimed performances at such local institutions as Highland Grounds, Crooked Bar, West End and 14 Below. She will release her first CD, which will consist entirely of self-penned songs, in the fall of 2003.

The future should hold good things for Andrea Floyd.