Andrew Leahey & the Homestead

Nashville-based singer/songwriter Andrew Leahey works in the storied tradition of American roots rock, alt-country, and classic pop. A rock & roll songsmith in the tonal lineage of Petty and Springsteen, Leahey began coming into his own as an artist in the early 2010s, fronting his band the Homestead. Temporarily sidelined by a 2013 brain tumor, the singer/guitarist bootstrapped his way back to health and artistic activity, returning with a vengeance to release 2016's triumphant Skyline in Central Time and its more rock-driven 2019 follow-up, Airwaves. The two-part double-album American Static, Vol. 1 kicked off in October 2021 with a diverse set that explored myriad corners of rock music including psych rock and piano pop. The similarly rangy Vol. 2 followed in May 2022. A native of Richmond, Virginia, Leahey's career began as the frontman for rock-/new wave-inspired combo Hobson's Choice, which he formed in 2001 while attending the University of Virginia. The group fared well regionally, releasing their lone independent album in 2004 before splitting up a year later. Subsequent moves to New York City and Ann Arbor, Michigan, found Leahey developing both his career as a music journalist and as a performer. After trying his hand singing choral music at Juilliard, he complemented his Midwestern tenure by forming a new band, the Opera House, who performed around Michigan between 2009 and 2011. Leahey then moved on to Nashville, where he quickly found his footing and assembled the crew that would become his primary backing band, the Homestead. Released in late 2011, Andrew Leahey & the Homestead's self-titled debut found its leader putting all of the pieces in place, delivering hard-hitting, heartfelt roots rock packed with melody and soul. As an artist and bandleader, Leahey began to establish himself, touring relentlessly and building a national fan base. By the summer of 2013, with a newly released EP, his career seemed on the verge of a breakout, though physically, his health was inexplicably deteriorating. Frequent migraines, sudden hearing loss, and unexpected issues with his balance were soon revealed to be the result of a brain tumor on his hearing nerve. Without extensive surgery, Leahey would most certainly lose his hearing, his balance, and possibly his life. He elected to have the 12-hour procedure, then entered a lengthy recovery period during which he was unable to perform. Disaster averted, Leahey's lease on life was brighter than ever before, and he began writing with a renewed spirit. Working with producer and Wilco founder Ken Coomer, he and his band recorded their follow-up, Skyline in Central Time, a vigorous set of rock & roll road anthems brimming with vitality. Ever optimistic, yet reflective of his struggles, the album covered a range of themes from mortality to gratefulness and freedom. Released by Nashville's Thirty Tigers label in the summer of 2016, Leahey and his band hit the road hard over the next year or so, notching nearly 200 dates in support of the release. Returning to the studio with producer Paul Ebersold, Leahey refined some of the Americana tone of his previous release, emerging in 2019 with the streamlined rock & roll of Airwaves, an album deeply rooted in the FM radio sound of his childhood. After another bout of touring, Leahey returned to session work, digging into his side gig as Elizabeth Cook's guitarist. He was featured heavily on her acclaimed Butch Walker-produced 2020 album Aftermath. Around this time, Leahey began work on an ambitious double-album project titled American Static. While locked down during the COVID-19 pandemic, Leahey and his bandmates kept up a prolific series of livestreams that resulted in the writing of dozens of new songs. This new material became the basis for their next project, which they split into two volumes. Released in late 2021, American Static, Vol. 1 kept much of the rock power of Airwaves while diverting into modes of psychedelia, Beatlesque piano pop, and other intriguing corners. Vol. 2 arrived in May of the following year and was even more diverse than Vol. 1, offering some of the strongest and most varied songs of Leahey's career.
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