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Sheridan Brand was started to highlight interesting events and people in our community, like Doug Andrews. At first glance, you may simply see an interesting pair of sandals and a pretty glorious beard, but he’s probably the most accomplished and talented singer-songwriter we’ve interviewed this week. Doug is a Sheridan native, growing up on Cedar Avenue and graduating from Sheridan High School before pursuing a career in songwriting and “musicianing”.
Andrews studied voice at the University of Montana and Ohio Wesleyan University, and participated in a study abroad program which took him to Austria for what he refers to as “the Vienna experience”. Coming back home, Doug applied to graduate school, still dreaming of Vienna. He shared with us that he had one course to complete before being eligible for his graduate program, which he didn’t finish in time to start his first semester. Andrews chuckled when he told us that he wasn’t too upset about this, as he then had nothing better to do than to move to Vienna. He needed a change of pace, somewhere to go to figure out what he could make of his songwriting. This evidently worked out, as he’s written two full albums, with more to come.
When we asked Doug about his tunes, he told us that Wyoming is where his music is rooted: adventures he’s had here, friends he’s shared those with, and lessons he’s learned through all of his tomfoolery have inspired the stories he tells through his lyrics. Andrews shared with us that while he’s always been interested in music, his passion to write didn’t begin until late in his highschool career, in English class. When Mrs. Pat Best had the class analyze a poem, Doug’s mind was “blown” as he realized that, contrary to popular belief, poetry is pretty intense and deliberate. We thought it was basically the whole “roses are red” thing, but apparently there’s quite a bit more that goes into it, as Doug discovered. He said as soon as he understood what went into the symbolism and rhythm of a poem, he started thinking about writing songs himself.
Outside of poetry and his Sheridan upbringing, Andrews said his music draws a lot of perspective from the various European cities where he’s hung his hat(s) over the last few years. He enjoys the diverse and stimulating urban environments where he spends the better part of each year, but when we asked him about how Sheridan stands out, his reply pretty much sums up our little corner of the world. “I didn’t know how special it was until I left,” Andrews said, “you can be so involved in so many things here… and everybody pitches in.”
Talking to Doug, he kept mentioning this local “band”, the Craft Brothers, who he’s known since before they were even a band, from what we can gather. According to a Craft Brother who asked to remain anonymous, “Doug is like a brother to us, a whimsical and musical soulmate. We live vicariously through his travels and welcome him with open arms each time he returns. He is the prodigal Craft Brother.” Andrews told us that he was quite shy in high school, and playing with the Craft Brothers was what got him out of his “little box.” Now, whether it was simply some coaxing or a more forceful unboxing, we’re not exactly sure, but he turned out alright regardless. The best song that Doug’s written, according to him, is titled “When We Were Young,” and is unfortunately not on any released album, so you cannot actually listen to it and decide if it’s any good. That is, until next summer when we’ve heard rumors (directly from the mouth of Mr. Andrews himself) regarding a third album release. Anyway, he told us the reason he likes this song so much is that he “really dug (nice pun, Doug) deep for that one,” and that it tells the story of growing up in Sheridan, running around in the streets until dark and just havin’ a grand ol’ time. Before leaving Sheridan for the summer, Andrews, with the help of Wayward Films, started putting together a music video for this song that he says should be out in the “near future.”
We also asked Doug about the lyrics to some of his other tunes, such as “Fastball” (another unreleased track, which Andrews mentioned is a co-written work). If you’ve heard “Fastball”, you know that amidst some bluesy guitar stuff, the song is rich with baseball imagery, hence the title. When we inquired about this particular song, Doug said that he had been writing “lots of melancholy singer songwriter-y stuff,” and so decided to change directions and write something with more growling and semi-intentional guitar slapping. This seemed to have worked out, as it’s a pretty jivey tune, to use a technical term.
Andrews has written and released two albums, Absaraka Runoff and Second Thaw, both with very different processes, he told us. Absaraka Runoff was done totally solo, as in Doug wrote, recorded, mixed, and mastered all eight songs completely by himself. All but two of those songs were written and recorded within roughly a month’s time: “I locked myself away in a cabin on the T – Bar – T ranch and pounded it out.” Second Thaw was a more collaborative effort, recorded with the help of a producer in Vienna all in one day. “It was all done live; I had two mics on my voice, two on my guitar… I did three to five takes on each song, and pretty much just chose the best one.”
Though he lives a bit more than a hop, skip, and a jump away, Doug said “I don’t really feel like I’ve ever left Sheridan. I just have a really long commute… It took being gone for a while to see how special this place is and being to fully appreciate the place where I was born and raised.” Andrews noted an increased vitality since he’s left and been back over the last few years, but without hesitation, the one thing he said that was the same as before is “the Java Moon at 6:30 in the morning.” Doug is excited to start spreading his Sheridan pride to Europe as a Surf Wyoming Ambassador: “I’m proud to add this to my resume of random titles including: Sheridan WYO Rodeo Book Kick Off Champion 1997, and Bog Bash King 2011 (Mountbolus, County Offaly, Ireland). Surf Wyoming is such a great Sheridan-born brand. PJ Treide and crew have really taken it to the next level and I’m excited to be a part of spreading it to another continent.” There’s no question that Doug Andrews is a Sheridan man, with a love for the mountains, songs of home, and western rough edges, and we’re sure glad this is still one of the many places he hangs his hat.
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