Born and raised in Norway, Chris "Kid" Andersen moved to California to pursue a career in the blues in 2001 at the age of 21. He quickly became a staple of the thriving West Coast Blues scene, just as he had been a vital part of the Scandinavian Blues scene for years already.
He currently plays in the touring band of harmonica legend Charlie Musselwhite and also tours with sax great Terry Hanck and harp ace RJ Mischo as well as the up and coming harpist and vocalist extraordinaire John Nemeth.
With all this sideman work, you'd think the Kid would never have time to do his own thing, but you would be wrong! With the 2003 release of his solo debut "Rock Awhile", Kid Andersen established himself firmly as an artist in his own right. He received world wide praise for his guitar chops as well as his soulful voice. He blends a multitude of different influences from all fields of music into a singular, unmistakable style that is all blues, but more importantly, all Chris Andersen.
His guitar playing has been compared to the very best from the West coast as well as having strong echoes of string benders BB King, Otis Rush and early Peter Green. He plays with great fluency and feel and remains completely unpredictable at all times. His wild, racing intensity have had him likened to Buddy Guy and his intense vibrato is something that simply must be heard. His heartfelt vocals have been described as a cross between Peter Green and Otis Rush, yet both his guitar and singing voices remain all the way his own. "Rock Awhile" is a tour de force of different blues styles, all linked and blended together by this young man's eschewed mind.
Chris "Kid" Andersen first caught a break in the music field when he joined the first house band at the famous blues club "Muddy Waters" in Oslo, where he first got the chance to back up a string of American Blues Greats. This is where he met Terry Hanck, who brought him stateside to Santa Cruz California. Since then, the Kid has toured all over the US and Canada as well as Scandinavia, Mexico and even Russia!
Andersen wouldn't be caught dead with anything but a top notch band, because the players he uses have to really stay on their toes to keep up with this wild man crazy antics. In his live shows Kid Andersen can go from a New Orleans Rocker into a low down Chicago blues in the blink of an eye. He can throw the audience a curveball in the form of a psychedelic surf workout and the in the next second he'll bring it home with a smooth West Coast shuffle, and yet he manages to tie it all in together and keep it all swinging at all times.
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"One of the great musical geniuses of the 20th AND 21st centuries."
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