Andy Grammer und Walk Off The Earth

Andrew Charles Grammer is an American singer/songwriter and record producer originally from California. A relative newcomer to the American music scene, his debut self titled album was released in 2011 however his musical origins can be traced back to his youth where Grammer learnt to play the trumpet, followed by the guitar and piano under the constant encouragement of his father Red Grammer who was a singer/songwriter at the time. At the age of 15 he turned his talents to songwriting, and by 20 he left Binghamton University in his hometown of Chester, New York and returned to the Los Angeles area where he currently lives.

He pursued a degree in Music Industry Studies at the California State University in Northside and with his early interests in music he set about making a name for himself in the industry in which he had studied. He takes his main influences from a mixture of three main genres. The guitar lead music of John Mayer and Jason Mraz; the piano heavy Coldplay, Onerepublic and The Fray and the complex lyrical ability of hip hop artists such as Lauryn Hill, Jay Z and Kayne West.

His beginnings are humble, starting at the very bottom as a street busker before being discovered in 2010 by his manager and signing to S-Curve Records. His debut video to single 'Keep Your Head Up' was featured as iTunes Video of the Week in 2010 and went on to chart within the top 100 of the US Billboard chart, a difficult feat for a new artist. Due to the interest around this release, the debut album topped the US Billboard New Artist Chart. In January Billboard noted Grammer as an artist to watch after the success of his debut, his ever growing fan base and a successful supporting slot for the Plain White T's.

After the release of the album, Grammer earned another prestigious opening slot for Natasha Bedingfield on her Less Is More Tour in June 2011. After a successful promotional campaign and an original release, Grammer released the anticipated first single of his follow up 'Back Home' on March 25, 2014. The album 'Magazines or Novels' charted at #27 on the US charts, a huge gain commercially for the young artist.

Comprised of talented multi-instrumentalists Ryan Marshall, Mike Taylor, Gianni Luminati, Joel Cassady, and Sarah Nicole Blackwood, Walk off the Earth formed in 2006. Since then the band has become popular the world over for their elaborate reinvention of existing songs, where the group’s members will often play the same instrument at the same time or swap mid song. The band made their debut full-length release in 2007 with the album “Smooth Like Stone on a Beach”. Released by SlapDash Records the album is a far more reggae-inspired album than Walk off the Earth subsequent releases, and features a cover of Rage Against the Machine’s “People of the Sun”.

The group’s sophomore album “My Rock” was released in 2010, however it wasn’t until Walk of the Earth began covering songs that they really made their mark on the music industry. Producing a steady stream of innovative covers by the likes of The Gregory Brothers, Adele and B.o.B the group began uploading the fruits of their efforts to YouTube, which proved highly popular amongst listeners. Walk off the Earth subsequently crafted a cover of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” – with five members negotiating a single guitar – which has subsequently reached over 165 million views on YouTube. The success of the single led the group to sign with Columbia Records in February 2012, and perform on the Ellen Degeneres show shortly afterwards.

Walk off the Earth’s major-label debut “R.E.V.O” (Realize Every Victory Outright) was released in early 2013. Featuring 10 original compositions along with the Gotye cover, the album charted at No. 7 in Canada and spawned the singles “Red Hands”, “Gang of Rhythm”, and “Shake It Off”. Following the release, the group embarked on a worldwide tour including shows in Canada, the U.S. and Europe, and went on to win four awards at the Canadian Radio Music Awards.