Matt Andersen - Alumni Spotlight

Matt Andersen (’99) is a Juno nominated guitarist and singer-songwriter originally hailing from New Brunswick. A remarkable talent who can easily command any room with his performance, Andersen has become one of the top acoustic performers in Canada. While he was a student at OIART’s music production school, he frequently stole the show at open mic nights at Scots Corner in London. He went on to sign with True North Records, headlining at festivals, clubs and theatres throughout North America and around the world. He has played on bills with Bo Diddley, Buddy Guy, Greg Allman, the Tedeschi Trucks Band, Randy Bachman, Little Feat, April Wine, America, Loverboy, Jonny Lang and Serena Ryder, and has performed several times on Stuart McLean’s Vinyl Cafe on CBC.



Andersen has won multiple Canadian Maple Blues Awards including Entertainer of the Year and multiple East Coast Music Awards. Back in 2010, he became the first Canadian to win the top prize for a duo/individual at the International Blues Challenge held in Memphis TN. There, he competed against artists from 11 other countries and five continents. His album Weightless, released in 2014, gained him a Juno Award nomination for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year, a CIMA Road Gold award, and a Maple Blues Award for Male Vocalist of the Year. That album saw him co-writing for the first time with Canadian top recording artists including Joel Plaskett, Ryan Hupman, Dave Gunning, Tom Wilson and David Myles. His latest album, Honest Man, was recorded in New York and saw him writing with Donovan Woods. Look for him on his summer 2016 tour across Canada.