Andrew Calhoun

by Craig HarrisSensitive lyricism is set to gentle, acoustic melodies by Chicago-based singer/songwriter and record company owner/producer Andrew Calhoun. Influenced by early John Prine, Leonard Cohen and Martin Carthy, Calhoun brings a poetic approach to his unique style of songwriting.
Although he continues to perform and record as a soloist, Calhoun has expressed his love of acoustic music as much through his record label, Waterbug Records, which has released more than forty albums by such artists as Chuck Brodsky, Diane Ziegler, Kat Eggleston, Sloan Wainwright, Kate McDonnell, Rick Lee, Michael Jerling, Michael McNevin and Steve Fisher.
The son of a Bell Laboratories technician and a high school teacher, Calhoun grew up listening to traditional songs recorded by folk singers including Ewan MacColl and Richard Dyer Bennett. When he was a youngster, his mother opened her home to problem-struck teenagers and runaways, including several who played acoustic guitar. By the age of ten, Calhoun had taught himself to play the six-stringed instrument, and after attending a concert by John Prine at the age of twelve, he began writing his own songs.
Calhoun moved with his family to the suburbs of Chicago in 1968. Nine years later, he moved on his own to Evanston, Illinois, where he continues to reside with singer/songwriter Kat Eggleston. Sharpening his performance skills in folk music coffeehouses, Calhoun recorded his debut album, Water Street, in 1983. After releasing two albums on Flying Fish, he launched Waterbug Records in August 1992 to issue efforts including Hope, 1996's Phoenix Envy and 1999's Where Blue Meets Blue.