Asheville, North Carolina’s Andrew Scotchie of Andrew Scotchie & The River Rats was Charlie John’s special guest on the April 13, 2022 episode of On The Record. Andrew gave us updates on all things River Rat related in this hour-long interview.
In the opening of the interview, Charlie asked Andrew how Covid has impacted Andrew and his band, as far as gigging and traveling. “Things are drastically different from this time last year,” Andrew says. “It’s not only getting better on a local scale, but regional festivals and venues are opening back up and restrictions are being lifted, which makes traveling less riddled with anxiety. It’s just better overall.”
So, how did Andrew get started and what inspired him to get into the music business? Andrew says that although his parents weren’t musicians, they were eclectic “music junkies” and listened to everything from Alison Krauss to The Rolling Stones to Black Sabbath and everything in between. “Growing up, my Dad would take us to concerts,” Andrew says, “and I remember on particular concert that really changed my life. It was 2003, in Clemson, South Carolina at The Little John Auditorium. And it was Lynyrd Skynyrd, 38 Special, and a band called Mother’s Fines, that opened up. That was one of many concerts that changed my life, as far as feeling the raw energy and getting into the actual experience. I fell in love with the energy of the live experience before I fell in love with the guitar, ” says Andrew.
Andrew says his biggest influence was his late father. “My Dad was just a rock and roller at heart,” Andrew says, “It was a dream for him, to be able to take his kids to shows.” “It’s not shocking that I ended up becoming a musician,” says Andrew.
Andrew started taking guitar lessons at the age of ten at Musician’s Workshop in Asheville, North Carolina and continued for a couple years. Andrew says that after that it turned into after-school jam sessions and Andrew wrote his first song at age 13.
When Charlie asked Andrew how important performing live is to him, Andrew replies, “I really want to get back into the studio, but we’ve been consistently putting out albums for the past two years, and I kind of want to let those sink in a little bit.” Andrew Scotchie & The River Rats released the album, Family Dynamo in 2018 and Everyone Everywhere in 2020. Charlie asked Andrew how the pandemic affected the recording and release of Everyone Everywhere. “We recorded half of the album in 2019 and the other half in 2020, which I don’t recommend” Andrew says with a laugh. “It was really hard because I’d much rather just go into it full force, but I’m really proud of the way it turned out and there were a lot of really special moments that I don’t think we could ever recreate on purpose,” says Andrew.
Be sure and listen in to the full episode by clicking HERE or below and hear Andrew answer some fun and interesting questions, such as – What are you not very good at? What is the worst thing and the best thing about the current state of the music industry? What are your feelings about signing with a record label? What would you do if you could not do music? Did you have a religious upbringing? In today’s climate, what is your idea of “making it”? and What is your best criticism and your worst compliment?
Find out more about Andrew Scotchie & The River Rats at their official website www.AndrewScotchieMusic.com and FOLLOW them on social media via the links below:
Andrew Scotchie on BANDCAMP: AndrewScotchieAndTheRiverRats.Bandcamp.com.
