Arthur Pardue

You heard it here first.

(And the reader thought): I’ve heard that one before.

Every now and then, though, there comes a new act with such impressive natural talent, with such a terrific upside, with such a fresh perspective on time-tested musical virtues, that it’s in the reader’s best interest to perk up ears and eyes and pay attention.

And so it is with Arthur Pardue, a singer-songwriter duo from Tampa Bay that has artfully built a sound rich in melody, caressed with gorgeous vocal harmonies, and blessed with a probing lyrical point of view that dares to be sensitive and vulnerable in an era of prefab pop stars. Arthur Pardue is cut from the same cloth as the Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel — where craft was king and feeling was paramount — but moves the tradition into the 21st Century with a youthful force.

Get to know Andrew Arthur and Andy Pardue now. You’ll be glad you did. At the very least, you’ll be able to say you knew them when.

Andrew, 17, is a vocal and songwriting prodigy. It runs in the family. His father, Jeff Arthur, was a successful singer-songwriter in the 70s with the Miami group Arthur, Hurley & Gottlieb. Andrew struggled to find his way as a youngster, but at 15 discovered his calling. It was staring him in the face all along. Like his dad, Andrew had melodies and lyrics swimming around in his head. He just had to let them out. It started in the Atrium, something of a magical place in the genesis of Arthur Pardue. The Atrium is a beautiful, sun-kissed area in the Jeff Arthur office building. It has high ceilings and natural reverb. It was there that Andrew’s budding singing and songwriting talents emerged, as he would adjourn to the space with his father. At first, the duo would sing old pop tunes, or Jeff’s jingles, basking in the gorgeous acoustics and the sheer love of singing and playing. And then the tunes started to come.

Ironically, there was a state-of-the-art recording studio just a couple of doors away, but the twosome opted instead for the sheer extemporaneous joy of ad hoc performance.

Enter Andy Pardue who was looking for a gig at Jeff Arthur’s jingle house. He’d just come off a stint as the touring guitarist for Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, where he had played for crowds of up to 30,000.

The partners took to it with a vengeance, writing song after song after song. They’re like Brill Building tunesmiths, but with technology to back them. Instead of working at a battered upright piano in a cramped office, Andrew and Andy can adjourn to any number of hideaways to hone their songs. Sometimes it might even be on the beach. All they need, really, is Andrew’s voice and Andy’s guitar.

A song might evolve this way: When Andy has a musical idea pop into his head, he will play and Andrew will begin to contribute lyrics. The partners then refine melody and lyrics together and rework the parts into a song.

Andrew and Andy’s priority at this point in their career is, simply, writing, writing, writing. Although they have the studio at their disposal, they’ve only recorded basic demos thus far. They haven’t worried about wardrobe and image, either. Arthur Pardue is going about it the right way. Substance over style. Get the material first, lots of it.

While so many young singer-songwriters hide behind a veil of glibness and irony, these young men are willing to embrace sincerity. And that’s one of the things that will set him apart from the pack.

Remember you heard it here first.