Andrea England has a unique ability to work successfully in multiple worlds, from recording and performing as a solo artist herself in a folk/roots/country vein, to placing pop co-writes with Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger’s (for which she received a UK Gold album award) and country songs with Canada’s Canadian Country Female Artist of the Year, Meghan Patrick; from contributing thought pieces to magazines like Natural Traveler, to – most recently – diving into the deep end of the TV business as an aspiring dramatic series creator.
For Andrea, it’s all about storytelling, and – one way or another – getting to the truth of why it is we are all here. It’s no doubt that her reason for being here has a lot to do with words and music.
Andrea’s last solo album, Hope and Other Sins, produced by Grammy Award winning producer/guitarist Colin Linden, spent several weeks on Cashbox Magazine’s Top 50 Folk chart and hit #1 on Galaxy’s Folk Roots Radio; and her previous release, Lemonade, spawned numerous network TV placements and international songwriting awards (John Lennon, International and USA Songwriting Contests), kickstarting her career as a songwriter. The first song she ever wrote, “Eyes Wide Shut,” went to number one on the East Coast Countdown in a matter of weeks – and with no manager, agent, radio promoter, nor label – she was nominated for three Nova Scotia Music Awards and booked her very first gig as an artist/songwriter as a result: the main stage at the Stan Rogers Folk Festival …and her life has been a little like that ever since.
Since, Andrea has also performed at SXSW, NXNE, CMW, NSMW, CCMA, ECMA, OCFF and FAI Music festivals to name a few, and, recently, was invited to host her very first round at Nashville’s famed Bluebird Café. Originally inspired by those Bluebird Cafe rounds, Andrea founded her very own quarterly series of “in the round” sessions, Four Chords and the Truth, in 2015 at Toronto’s iconic roots/Americana venue, the Dakota Tavern. The evening became known as one of intimacy, quality, and exclusivity, selling out a year in advance and has become a veritable bucket list event for Canadian songwriters and fans alike, featuring well over 100 award-winning songwriters. On January 18th 2023, it was announced that Four Chords and the Truth would be moving to the incredible TD Music Hall within the historic Massey Hall / Allied Music Centre complex!
Andrea believes in creators’ rights and the importance of advocacy: she sits on Board of Directors of the Songwriters Association of Canada, where she sits on the DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) and Communication Committees, the Dalhousie Arts Centre Campaign Cabinet, is a staunch supporter and charity partner (via Four Chords & the Truth) of the Unison Benevolent Fund and is a voting member of both the American and Canadian Academies of Recording Arts & Sciences as well as an active juror for the category of Songwriter of the Year in numerous regional and national organizations.
