Staff Pick: Theresa Andersson

Just happened to catch Theresa Andersson at Canal St. Tavern a couple of weeks ago, and was very impressed with her set that night. I know Theresa’s music a little bit, since she currently lives in New Orleans and is a popular local artist and gigs continuously in town and is booked every year at JazzFest (which my wife and I attend every year we can). She originally moved to New Orleans in the early 1990’s from Sweden with singer/songwriter Anders Osborne and has performed in her own bands along with New Orleans legends such as Allen Toussaint and The Neville Brothers. I saw Theresa a few years ago when she was touring in support of Shine which seemed to be her attempt at becoming a “pop star.”

I had heard and read a couple of reviews about her latest CD, Hummingbird Go! and was curious to see (and hear) what she was up to on this recording. All the reviews talked about how Theresa had done all the instrumentation on the CD. According to her liner notes, “Theresa plays all strings and things like Barq’s root beer bottles, saw, wine glasses, high-heeled clogs, drums, slide whistle & slide violin,” and she actually recorded the CD in her kitchen in her house in New Orleans! The fact that she was touring by herself, with no band, added to the intrigue of what she was up to and what we would hear that night.

So, we’re there with a small group of Theresa’s closest friends in Dayton (it was her first time in town), and she comes out by herself and immediately lays down about 4-5 different “loops” including about three different voices, a dulcimer, and drums and accompanies herself on a stirring version of the spiritual “O, Mary, Don’t You Weep!” After that we were hooked and enjoyed her 90 minute set of her “one woman show” which at various times included guitar, violin (her original instrument), dulcimer, drums, tambourine, voices, xylophone, and some pre-recorded drum tracks from New Orleans drum legend Smokey Johnson! Needless to say it was a VERY enjoyable evening out hearing some truly unique music, and fascinating musical alchemy with Theresa and her double loop pedals. The unique nature of the music’s presentation that night with the looping and pre-recorded sections never diverted attention from the high quality of the artistry displayed in Theresa’s songs.

Highlights from “Hummingbird, Go!” (of course I had to purchase her CD that night!) include the YouTube sensation “NaNaNa” along with another hit on YouTube “Birds Fly Away.” “Innan Du Gar” (sung with Swedish artist Ane Brun) is a haunting, beautiful melody, and “God’s Highway” (sung with producer Tobias Froberg) is a great folk road song with hints of Emmylou Harris and Simon & Garfunkel. I encourage you to take a listen to Theresa’s music and learn more about her unique artistry! Start with her solo kitchen recording of "Nanana":