Andrew F

With lightning speed, 17-year-old Andrew F jumps 3-1 in just his second week on the Emerging Canadian Artists chart with “The End.� The coronation marks the list’s fastest this year, and the Calgarian is also the first solo male to reign since the chart bowed last November.

Andrew F began his musical career atage 14 behind the drum kit and soon joined his first band, Thirty Years War. He learned guitar and began writing before quickly deciding that being a frontman was his destiny, and he moved on to helming a handful of pop/punk bands.

After writing a healthy collection of songs, he began recording demos with producer Daron Schofield. The raw tracks eventually evolved into
his debut album, “Reckless Abandon,� engineered by two-time Juno Award winner Josh Rob Gwilliam. His first single, the catchy and crunchy “The End,� has immediately won fans, moving 5,000 downloads this week and soaring 35-6 on Hot Digital Songs. The track also bounds 54-10 with Greatest Gainer/Digital honours on the
Billboard Canadian Hot 100.
Last month, “Reckless Abandon�
was released by Newboy Productions with distribution through Indiepool. Andrew F is working on a music video for “The End,� with touring plans
soon to follow.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
By Paul Tuch
paul.tuch@nielsen.com
‘THE END’ IS
THE BEGINNING
Calgarian Andrew F
stampedes to the top of
Emerging Artists.
- Billboard.biz Bulletin - Paul Tuch

Pink, Rihanna, Lady GaGa, Pussycat Dolls, Coldplay. None of those names would be particularly surprising to find at the top of a music chart, but the one who comes right after them on the Canadian iTunes “Top Songs� might surprise a few. The name is Andrew F, the Calgarian whose debut album, Reckless Abandon, has recently blown up in a big way, leaving him rubbing elbows on the Canadian iTunes, eMusic and Billboard charts with the likes of M.I.A., Madonna and the Jonas Brothers. Not bad for a 17-year-old on an independent label he runs with his brother.

“One day, my parents called me up and were like, ‘Wow, you’re on iTunes,� Franks says of his sudden success. “I was just excited to be on iTunes. The second day I looked and I was in the Top 20. I was shocked. I was very excited.�

While Andrew might have been shocked to see himself among some of the music industry’s biggest stars (his album and single each reached No. 4 on iTunes), the melodic pop-punk of Reckless Abandon has clearly caught on with Canadian listeners. Rather than rely on music industry money to promote his songs, though, Andrew has been doing things the old-fashioned way.

“I just need to thank my fans,� he says humbly. “I played at a lot of little shows and house parties, getting my name out there. I worked up a little fan base, and once they found out that I was recording my album, they just kind of followed.�

Obviously, “little� is an understatement. Word of mouth and fan loyalty has given Andrew the kind of chart position usually reserved for international celebrities. In an effort to capitalize on this success, Andrew has quickly assembled a band and will soon move onto much larger venues than the house parties he cut his teeth on.

“It’s going really good,� the singer and guitarist says of his new band. “We looked [for people] out of KLM [Rock School] because I wanted kids my age, and they’re all really talented guys. We interviewed a whole bunch of people and they were just the ones. We’ve been working on our live show and getting everything going. It’s all coming together really fast. We’ve even started writing some new tunes.�

Those new songs might take awhile to surface on a followup to Reckless Abandon, as Andrew is understandably busy with other things like honing his live show and outselling Metallica. While that last bit might be hard for some to wrap their heads around, Andrew hasn’t let success go to his. Despite the out-of-the-blue nature of his chart climb, Andrew isn’t afraid of a
similarly sudden disappearance, and his reasons have nothing to do with ego.

“It’s a pretty vicious industry, and I would hope that that would never happen, but I’ve got a pretty good fan base going on,� he says. “I have faith in the fans to keep me up there.�
- FFWD - Garth Paulson

If you haven't heard of Andrew F yet, listen up.

At just 17, he's well on his way to becoming one of the most downloaded, Googled, YouTubed and radio-requested local musicians of the decade.

He's been No. 1 on the Canadian Billboards Emerging Artists Chart for the past five weeks and assumed a comfortable spot in the Top 10 list of iTunes downloads for the past six weeks. He's just finished filming the videos for his first two singles 'The End' and 'Crash and Burn' and is catching the attention of music industry insiders and execs like crazy.

On top of it all, Andrew F is an affable high school kid from Calgary with an overdeveloped interest in helping those around him.

Together with his bandmates Dennis Hann, Sean Abercrombie and Matt Boutin, Andrew Franks will be lighting up the MacEwan Hall Ballroom Friday night, in one of those shows that you'll surely be bragging about seeing years down the road when they make it big. Special guests Calm Asa Coma and Crystal Kid will be opening.

Friday night's concert also marks the cd release party for his debut album, 'Reckless Abandon,' and for every ticket sold to the show, Andrew will be donating $5 to the Calgary Food Bank. Considering the tickets are only $22 to begin with, it's an offer that tops the generosity of many older, supposedly wiser philanthropist types.

With a capacity of 1,000 people, this rising teenage rocker could very well raise $5,000 for the Food Bank without breaking a sweat. And did we mention all who attend the show get his new cd for free? You don't even have to hear his music to like this kid. Rock on, Andrew F. Check out www.andrew-f.com for more. - Calgary Sun - Kelly Doody