Andre Arsenault

As the son of music teachers, it seemed that Andre would never escape music... and that was quite alright with him. At a young age he was mimicking the vocal sounds of James Taylor, Bono, Harry Connick Jr and anything else that was being played in the house. Percussion had been an interest of Andre's since banging on overturned trash cans as a small child (way before STOMP by the way) but when it was time to choose an instrument in school his parents just wouldn't let him play the drums. Andre picked up the saxophone in 4th grade and was experimenting with improvisation by 5th. In high school he continued to play the sax but focused on singing as he studied musical theater and classical music. Andre soon found himself heading to DC to study musical theater.
During his time in Washington, he was saxophonist and back-up vocalist for "Seal of Approval" (an R&B/ Blues band that played around DC and Baltimore.) Upon his return to RI, Andre began to study music education, bought a drum set and began playing with the original Providence-based band "Outside the Box”. Student-teaching demands required Andre to pick up a guitar and once he figured out how to get those damn bar chords down, he really got into it. Around 2003, Andre was playing drums for "Fat Free Bob" in some of RI, and CT's hottest clubs. As he honed his guitar skills he was finally able to accompany his singing and ready to get into the solo acoustic scene.
A couple of years later, he hooked back up with the guys from "Fat Free Bob" and they formed "What It Is”. It was a great experience playing with such talented musicians but as things began to pick up and the band started to consider more of a fulltime schedule, it seemed that Andre was headed on a different path. Due to his early weekday wake-ups to teach middle school kids about music he has decided to return to solo work and gig primarily on weekends. While he will miss playing with the band, he is excited about getting back to solo acoustic scene again.
Don't forget to check out www.andrearsenault.com !!!