Andy Hollinden

Lucky Hands In Trying Times (2009)

Lucky Hands In Trying Times was my first true collaboration. My good friend Mark Galup and I each brought six songs to the project. While the songwriting credits were kept separate, we both added tons of parts and arrangement ideas to each other’s compositions to create a unified vibe and cohesive artistic result.

“The Day She Was Diagnosed” and “Strong Man” are about the illnesses that claimed my mother and father.

Grieve For The Living (2008)

On the big picture, Grieve For The Living is a set of songs that address beliefs – how we get them, how they affect us, how they can conflict, and why we don’t discard the old, silly ones. It contains thirteen moody, majestic songs about aging, failing friendships, stupid royalty, deceit, and competition. Fear not, there’s hope for possible redemption.

Trust Yourself (2006)

Trust Yourself is my heaviest, hardest rockin’ album. If you like fast songs and loud, in-your-face guitars, this one’s for you. It features twelve straight-up songs written for the classic rock ‘n’ roll line-up of two guitars, bass, and drums. Don’t worry, there are a few slower tunes to break up the pace.

Stick It In Your Sound Hole (2004)

Stick It In Your Sound Hole is my roots album. I wanted it to sound like a late ‘50s record, so we used an old DeArmond sound hole pickup in an acoustic guitar, acoustic bass, and only one mic for the entire drum kit. All songs are instrumentals in open tunings and were written after I finally learned how to fingerpick.

Jamey played an old Rogers drum kit I picked up. It had dinky hit-hat cymbals he described as “British” and a rickety Speed King kick pedal that you can hear squeaking in quiet moments.

Begging's Not Endearing (2002)

I must work with what’s at my fingertips, and for this album I had a collection of traditional instruments, a sampler, and a PC running Sonic Foundry’s ACID. My brother Dave worked at Sonic Foundry then, and he gave me tons of their loops. I spent an insane amount of time auditioning them in seemingly infinite combinations. Trust me, you can easily spend a full day searching for a single perfect moment.

Begging’s Not Endearing is the only album I’ve ever made without any other musicians. It is quite pure and displays well my sense of melody, harmony, arrangement, and production.

Heat To Fragrance (2000)

Heat To Fragrance was my first solo release. This one is hard to pin down stylistically because it careens all over the map. There are nine vocal songs and four instrumental cuts whipped up in an unusual, eclectic mix. It features sweet songs about cancer, no sex, friendship, regret, fear, loneliness, and heat.

Boot Rouge Et Swabs (1996)

Boot Rouge Et Swabs was the second release by The Speakers, but it was our first full-length CD. I wrote all of the songs but had some helpful lyric contributions. The lyrics of “Velveteen Rabbit” are totally Erin’s. Very nice. The record was recorded to ADATs by our friend Rich Morpurgo (who also contributed guitar). Even though Boot Rouge was totally artistically satisfying, The Speakers soon disbanded so that Erin and I could concentrate on raising our daughters. Probably for the best.

Moving Earth From There To Here (1994)

Moving Earth From There To Here was The Speakers’ debut and the first thing I ever released. A 5-song EP, it was done in one weekend, recorded by Paul Mahern to my Tascam 8-track reel. It featured some of the very first songs I wrote in a somewhat commercial vein. As such, it has its charms, and it has its flaws. I judge myself harshly. Someday I should re-write, re-arrange, and re-record these numbers. Erin wrote the lyrics to “On The Dock,” and they are good. “Albert Simon” is about a workmate who died while I was working on a construction crew.