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Sandy: |
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Sandy Andina is a Chicago singer, songwriter, and musician who carries humor, insight, and years of life experience on stage with her. Brooklyn-born, Sandy also lived in the Pacific Northwest and has been a Chicagoan since 1978. Many also know her as an attorney and political volunteer, but music is and has always been her first love. Sandy tried her hand at folk music in her college days, but put her musical career on hold while she attended law school and began practicing law in the Seattle suburbs. When she moved to Chicago and became an Assistant Illinois Attorney General, she found herself with plenty of evenings to fill while her husband, Bob, was a resident physician who was on-call practically every other night. So, she unpacked her guitar and pen and began to embrace music anew—first as a writer and then performing at open mikes (with gentle prodding by Chicago folk legends Anne Hills, Jan Burda, and Cindy Mangsen). After hearing local artists accompany themselves on mountain dulcimer, Sandy decided that the dulcimer was a perfect fit for her own songs, traditional folk tunes, and even many pop and rock songs. (She delights in surprising those who expect to hear only traditional Appalachian and Celtic music coming out of the instrument!) Soon, Sandy found herself performing on the local folk circuit, teaching mountain dulcimer at Hogeye Music in Evanston, Illinois and singing her funniest songs at various comedy clubs. She became the opening act at the Comedy Womb in Lyons, holding down a slot weekly (sometimes more often) for over a year. That led to a featured role on The Preppy Comedy Album (Eclipse Records), including the album's centerpiece, The Preppy Anthem, which she not only penned, but sang. She was a regular performer as Steve Rich's singing and acting partner on his weekly comedy radio program in Brookfield, Illinois. When an election led to a change of administration at the Attorney General's office (with a frequent target of her political humor winning and taking over the reins), Sandy decided to leave civil service and pursue music full time. Meanwhile, her side project as backup vocalist for acoustic rockers Bob Berlien & The White Women moved front and center as the band began to blossom on the local bar scene. When the band went electric and became known as The White Women, Sandy picked up a bass guitar and plugged in. Whenever time permitted, she also fit in solo gigs at clubs across the Chicago area. The mommy track derailed Sandy's career for awhile, as both women in the band had babies within a week of each other! Nonetheless, Sandy and her bandmates were chosen by the Minnesota Science Fiction Society as Musician Guests of Honor at Minicon 1985, playing to an enthusiastic audience of over 3000. When schedule conflicts and bandmates' diverging careers led to the band's breakup, Sandy immediately became bassist and lead singer of the cover band, Lake Effect, a staple of the block party, street fair, and political fundraiser circuit for over six years. Once again, though, various bandmates' career demands and relocations put an end to that band. Several years passed while Sandy returned to motherhood, private law practice, and volunteer work. But she yearned to get back to performing and writing. Two events in 1999 pushed her back onstage: first, an open mike at a Rogers Park restaurant, which she hosted a couple of times, confirmed that music was where she truly belonged; and second, a songwriting course taught by Ralph Covert at the Old Town School of Folk Music turned out to be just the impetus she needed to kick-start her writing again. Between that course and those taught by legends Michael Smith and Steve Earle, Sandy found that in less than a year her arsenal of original songs had more than doubled. The Old Town School also had an open mike, as did Winners Bar & Grill next door, and she took full advantage of these opportunities. Sandy soon found herself back in business, appearing as an opener and solo act at bars and coffeehouses throughout the Chicago area. She also does double duty as bassist for Emanuel Congregation's 100% Kosher Ham-It-Up Band, playing jazz, Broadway, and klezmer standards, occasionally taking a lead vocal. Ghosts and Angels, Sandy's first CD, contains all original material with her teacher, Ralph Covert, at the controls. The toughest part was deciding which songs to record. She assures fans of many of her songs that didn't make the "top twelve" that those tunes will also eventually find their way to recorded form, on a live album, a followup CD, or MP3s on this Web site Sandy has been tapped to record two of her songs for the Chicago-themed compilation (W)Indie City, expected to be released in 2001. Sandy counts among her many influences Joni Mitchell, Bruce Springsteen, Pete Townshend, Warren Zevon, Stan Rogers, Steve Goodman, Sting, and Toms Lehrer and Paxton. Copyright © 2000, 2001, Sandy Andina, All Rights Reserved |
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