New Yorker cartoonist, illustrator, photographer, poet and singer-songwriter Andy Friedman has been in my radar since 2002, when he first performed at Andy’s in Chestertown as “The Slideshow Poet.”
Andy Friedman
He talked me into booking him on a Thursday evening. (The only artist I recall with a better sales pitch was the guy whose bio consisted of songs he refused to play, “Brown Eyed Girl,” “Margaritaville,” and “Happy Birthday.”) Armed with a slide projector in lieu of a guitar, Friedman read poetry while showing his drawings, paintings and Polaroids. He may have had a cd playing the background, but there was no live music. He attracted a small but attentive crowd. His website states that he played, “dive bars and rock clubs around the nation.”
Not sure where Andy’s fit in there…maybe a bit of both.
Friedman performed his hybrid act in Chestertown once or twice a year from 2002 through 2004, each time with a different twist; bringing musicians along to open up for his act, as well as accompany his slideshow and poetry reading . His audience grew, but it was not a sellout.
In 2005 he called to tell me he’d ditched the slides and formed a band, “Andy Friedman and
the Other Failures.” Of course I jumped right on it. An amazingly talent – he basically taught himself to play guitar and sing overnight. His music is described as, “hard-tack country”, his lyrics earned him the moniker, “erudite redneck.” And he dresses the part, as if he just rolled in from the field for a beer and a shot.
Now Friedman actually does rock out in rock clubs and maybe not so many dive bars. His 2009 cd, “Weary Things”, won him all sorts of accolades. Somehow he still makes time to draw. I see his name under New Yorker illustrations occasionally, and he sells his artwork along with other merchandise at the live shows. His new cd, “Laserbeams and Dreams,” with the fabulous David “Goody” Goodrich on piano and guitar, and Stephan Crump, upright bassist, is due out in April. Friedman is touring in support of the cd in May and June; some of the gigs will include Goody and Crump. Those will be fabulous shows. The dates should be up on his website shortly. https://andyfriedman.net/
Recommended if you like Tom Waits, Hank Williams, Bob Dylan, John Prine
Philip R. Dutton says
I remember that first Andy Friedman concert at Andy’s with ‘the Other Failures.’ Friedman sold me that night. I bought his CD and immediately went home to learn ‘I Want You to be Loved’ which I subsequently played at an Andy’s Open Mic a few months later. Besides being multi-talented, Friedman is a really nice guy. Go see him if you get the chance.