About Me
Welcome to the Sleepy Andy Tracy website!I am currently a member of Eazy, a group of guys that I love playing with, writing with and generally hanging out and whatever. You can check us out at myspace.com/eazyband I also run the Open Mic Night at Arlins Bar in Clifton and run sound for the Perfect Norm.
I've been playing music or dreaming of playing music forever. I played percussion through elementary, jr. high, and high school and only started playing guitar after I had started writing lyrics. (At this time, my younger brother,Jake, also started learning guitar and writing songs). One of the earliest collaborations between Jake and I was "I Kill You".
The first band I played in was the Midnight Movers. The original lineup (Andy Antle-sax, Andy Mckeown-lead guitar, vocal, Andy Tracy-rhythm guitar, lead vocal, Danny Royce-drums, (Noah)Bennett Miller-bass) only played one gig. The Bogarts High School Band Challenge in 96/97. We played "I Kill You" as well as two other of my originals: "Bloodthirsty Cats" and "Self-Destruct" and "Sunshine of your Love" and "Come Together." Unfortunately, we lost, and Miller and McKeown dropped out of the band.
For several months after that, Andy Antle, Danny and I played alot in my parents basement. At that time, I wrote the original lyrics for "Busted for Possession" (at IGA) and Andy put music to it (at Danny's house). We had a couple other songs....the best ones of that period are "Busted for Possession," "I Kill You/Bloodthristy Cats," and "Shame."
In 1998 my wife (then girlfriend) Kim and I moved to Murfreesboro, Tn.
It took a long time to get something musically worthwhile going in Murfreesboro. Getting to know the right people, confidence, etc.In 2000/2001, I did some songwriting with Amanda Chitwood (the best of which is "Pay to Work") while Kim and I lived in a house with Amanda, her boyfriend Wash, and Jeff from Del Giovanni Clique. Amanda introduced me to her friend Jason Crowder. Jason and I played together alot in 2000/2001, mostly jamming guitar and drums (or bass) on Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Hendrix, etc. We also completed a couple songs together (the best being "Nuclear Fusion") but Jason never felt we were ready to play out. In the end, we stopped playing together due to lack of momentum. (I was heavily depressed in this period).Soon after Crowder and I stopped playing, I heard music from next door. I went over to investigate and to my benefit, I met Garon Osborne and Coy Martin. (They had been roomates and had been jamming together for a year or so--they thought I was coming to ask them to turn it down....I was asking them to come over to my place and play with the drumset.) For the next month or so, the three of us played often, working up some old classics: "The Wind Cries Mary," "Bad Moon Rising" as well as some originals:Osborne's "Meet Mary Jane," Martin's "Drivin'," and my new one, "Untrustworthy," as well as "Busted..." and a few of my older ones.
In May/June 2002, Osborne(lead guitar), Martin(rhythm guitar) and I(bass) were joined on and off by Alan Pelno on drums and keyboard, Brian Henderson on guitar (once) and Fast Fingers Ron on drums. Soon after Martin returned from the first Bonnaroo, the newly named "The High Five" took the stage for the first time at "Borostock" a four day run of local bands at The Boro (in Murfreesboro, oddly enough). (The lineup for this show was: Osborne, Tracy, Martin, Fast Fingers Ron).
After a couple marginally successful gigs at Faces (with the full High Five lineup-including one gig where Brian didn't leave the stage despite not knowing half of the songs) Henderson and Fast Fingers Ron were trimmed from the group. (Henderson was Alan's roomate and caused tension within the band for the rest of our time together. Fast Fingers Ron, on the other hand, was a 40 something drummer that we had met through a flier on MTSUs campus. In the end, (we suspect), he robbed mine and Kim's apartment one morning when we were taking Alan back to Nashville (and had the dogs with us)). ANYWAY
The lineup of Osborne-lead guitar, Martin-rhythm guitar, Tracy-bass, drums, Pelno-keyboard, drums lasted for another month or so, but in the end, Coy decided that he wanted to focus more time on other things, and only jammed with us infrequently after that.
Through necessity, the "classic" High Five lineup of Pelno-Osborne-Tracy came into being. I'd say this was the best and tightest version of the band. We definitely did some good jams in the living room of 923 East Vine St. Garon and Coy lived in the one right next to us, so there was no one to complain about the noise. We would get home to Murfreesboro by midinight (Garon, Alan, Kim and I all worked at the same place in Nashville) and play until 4am or so, on an almost daily basis. Our best performances were probably in that living room: playing for only Kim and our good friend Shannon Forner. We staged several successful shows at Gentleman Jims, but we never really made any money, because no Murfreesboro bars had their own PA. (One GJ show we performed all of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon").
By the spring of 2003, the High Five had passed into history. There's probably alot of reasons why we broke up, some of them may have even been good. We might not remember some reasons and might not want to say some others. I definitely miss playing with those guys......or even seeing them.Kim and I moved back to Cincinnati in fall 2003 and my brother Jake and I immediately started working on new music. In 2003/2004 we recorded an album "Times Change (but the government is still up to the same old tricks)" in our parents basement. (Just like old times with the Midnight Movers). That album produced one of my best new(er) songs: "Discover."
In spring and summer 2004 Jake and I recorded "Stand Up While You Pee!" Although living up to the prophecy of the song "Forgotten Intentions": "I never get anything done so this will probably be another one", this album still has not been released in its completed form.Jake and I started playing Tracy Brothers shows at Front Porch Coffee House in 2005 and were joined, in time, by Jon Lattier on guitar for some shows. This eventually led to the threeof us playing a set during the 3rd annual Tracy Brothers Night at the St. Cecilia Festival in July 2006.
Around this time I met Jesse Schroeder through helping a friend move. In the end, after a month or so of doing sessions as a 3 piece with Jake and Jesse, we added in Jon. The first show we played was a Halloween Party-after that gig, we decided on the name Eazy. In the past year we've been making a name for ourselves in and around Cincinnati playing clubs and festivals.I've played with:
The Midnight Movers
The High Five
Mitts and Tracy
Mitts-Tracy-Ellison-Tracy
Zen Lunatics
I currently play with:
Eazy
The Tracy Brothers,
do solo gigs
and run sound for the Perfect Norm.Press about Sleepy Andy Tracy's "Government Bailout Blues":http://communitypress.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar
ticle?AID=/C2/20081124/NEWS/311240001/
From the Eastern Hills Journal and Cincinnati.com by Doug Graves November 24, 2008It may take Congress several months to figure out the specifics of a government bailout.But it only took local songwriter Andy Tracy a few hours to put the bailout talk to music.Tracy, 30, of East Walnut Hills created a few lyrics, added some music and sent his "Government Bailout Blues" demo CD to a few local radio stations. Now listeners can hear Tracy's song over the airwaves several times each day."I've written some topical things in the past, but this is the first one that's gotten any real exposure," said Tracy, a 1996 graduate of Walnut Hills High School. "I started thinking long and hard about this bailout situation, came up with a few lines and eventually added some music to the go along with the lyrics."Tracy recorded the song with the help of Vinnie Vicario, musician from the band Perfect Norm. The two got together recently at Vicario's small recording studio, laid down a few tracks and had themselves a few demo CDs in less than two hours."What's the point in writing something topical if the only a handful of people at a few shows are the only ones who hear it," Tracy said.A flash in the pan? Not exactly. Tracy has been into music since he was in the third grade."I played drums in third grade, and thanks to my father, I've always been into music," Tracy said. "By the time I was a junior in high school, I started teaching myself guitar chords."Tracy added bass and harmonica to his musical forte. Today, Tracy and his younger brother, Jake, have gigs several times each month. They call their band Eazy, playing a mix of classical and blues music."We've been doing quite well," Tracy said. "We play a lot of original pieces and some other stuff as well."Tracy, whose parents still reside in Oakley, supports his musical endeavors by working as a sound technician for the Cincinnati Recreation Commission. On Sundays he assists the Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church with its audio and video needs. Tracy and his wife, Kim, have been married for eight years."I'd like to make some of my living off writing and playing music. That's something I'd truly like to do," he said. "With the right exposure this could take off."Want to catch Tracy in person? This local musician runs "Open Mic Night" the second Thursday of each month at Arlin's Bar in Clifton. Eazy will perform with bands Perfect Norm and Layers at the Old Fort Pub in Ft. Thomas on Saturday, Jan. 24.Readers can hear Tracy's "Government Bailout Blues" periodically on radio stations WLW (AM-700), WEBN (102.7-FM) or WAIF (FM-88.3), or at myspace.com/eazyband.More press on "Government Bailout Blues":I was interviewed by Matthew Kelly for WNKU for a segment on their broadcast of NPRs Morning Edition. The segment is not currently available through their website. I am working to obtain it.--Andy......................................MORE TO COME......................................
........-------------------ANDY
